Dodge & Cox Invests $1.24 Billion in Aon plc $AON

Dodge & Cox acquired a new stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,464,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,235,437,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Matrix Trust Co grew its holdings in AON by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 0.3% in the third quarter. Busey Bank now owns 9,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,411,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of AON by 5.6% in the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AON by 5.9% during the third quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AON by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AON. Mizuho raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $397.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $436.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of AON in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AON has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.94.

Insider Transactions at AON

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 143,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.79, for a total value of $1,641,981.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,598,550.66. The trade was a 19.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AON Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of AON opened at $321.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.82. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $402.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

About AON

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.