Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 32,537 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 194.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,537 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $14,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in AON in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total value of $12,582,979.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 in the last ninety days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $334.69.

AON Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AON opened at $311.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.64. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $284.85 and a 12 month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.71%.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.