Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 29.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in AON by 1,555.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 16,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,000 after purchasing an additional 15,691 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the third quarter worth approximately $577,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in AON by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,041,000 after acquiring an additional 10,923 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,041,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 5.4% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,448,790. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AON Trading Up 0.3 %

AON traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $293.58. 1,312,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,813,326. The stock has a market cap of $63.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.91. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $347.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $289.64 and a 200 day moving average of $302.59.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America cut AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $311.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.86.

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.