Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 63 Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AON were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 222.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 14,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 10,151 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AON by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter worth approximately $796,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AON. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,991,685.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448,790. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE AON opened at $287.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.78. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $347.37. The company has a market cap of $62.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 15.59 EPS for the current 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 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

AON Profile

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.