Onex Canada Asset Management Inc. Buys 12,388 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Onex Canada Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,388 shares during the quarter. AON comprises about 7.6% of Onex Canada Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Onex Canada Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $60,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,292,000. Callan Family Office LLC increased its position in AON by 220.7% during the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,163,000 after buying an additional 8,034 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,752,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 19.3% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,053,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $732,299,000 after acquiring an additional 332,685 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 64.9% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 19,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,808,000 after acquiring an additional 7,512 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of AON from $393.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $433.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

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

AON Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:AON opened at $321.39 on Friday. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $304.59 and a 52-week high of $402.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.57. The company has a market capitalization of $68.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.82.

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

AON Announces Dividend

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

AON Company 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.