Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Aon plc $AON

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of AON worth $80,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in AON by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD increased its stake in shares of AON by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD now owns 867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in AON by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AON from $409.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AON from $360.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of AON from $389.00 to $426.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.56.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $368.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $331.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $330.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Aon plc has a 1-year low of $304.59 and a 1-year high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 19.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.00%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,527,440. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AON Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.