Moors & Cabot Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 25.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 262.7% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in AON by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 331,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,549,000 after buying an additional 4,843 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AON by 203.6% during the first quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 4,218 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AON in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the first quarter worth about $2,044,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $347.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $330.75 and a 200 day moving average of $311.42. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $353.54. The stock has a market cap of $75.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 15.23 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays started coverage on AON in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AON from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.27.

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.