Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 5,100 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,100 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in AON were worth $16,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AON by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of AON by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in shares of AON by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 13,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 144.0% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of AON by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AON. Bank of America upgraded shares of AON from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $398.00 to $397.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AON from $402.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.19.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE AON opened at $314.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $337.13. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aon plc will post 18.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.36%.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 5,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 20,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,598,550.66. This represents a 19.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 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, with a total value of $1,276,960.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 143,000 shares in the company, valued at $45,651,320. The trade was a 2.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.