Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 119,626 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 444,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 119,626 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.20% of AON worth $132,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in AON by 3.9% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of AON by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in AON by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AON by 4.0% in the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AON by 11.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.27.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $348.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $331.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $311.58. Aon plc has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $353.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.42.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.23 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. AON’s payout ratio is 21.16%.

About AON

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.