Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Boosts Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in AON were worth $6,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in AON by 1.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,479,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,452,390,000 after purchasing an additional 50,290 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after acquiring an additional 179,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AON by 0.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,244,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $727,844,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AON by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,523,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,094,000 after purchasing an additional 55,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of AON by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,311,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $311.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.53. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $284.85 and a fifty-two week high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $61.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.82 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AON. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.