Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 43,478 Aon plc $AON

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 43,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,503,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in AON by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,732,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of AON by 3.3% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 82,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,454,000 after acquiring an additional 47,900 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $319.24 per share, for a total transaction of $1,276,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,651,320. This represents a 2.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AON stock opened at $321.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $334.50 and a 200-day moving average of $346.26. Aon plc has a 52-week low of $304.59 and a 52-week high of $402.49. The stock has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.70 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. AON had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 45.23%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AON shares. Barclays increased their price target on AON from $379.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $448.00 to $443.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Sunday, February 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of AON in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $398.00 to $397.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.94.

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.