Assetmark Inc. Grows Stake in Aon plc $AON

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 504.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,178 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $25,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AON. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AON by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. City National Bank of Florida MSD grew its holdings in AON by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. City National Bank of Florida MSD now owns 867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of AON by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on AON from $360.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler cut AON from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $355.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on AON from $404.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.56.

AON Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AON stock opened at $366.69 on Friday. Aon plc has a fifty-two week low of $304.59 and a fifty-two week high of $381.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.19.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.67 EPS. AON’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 19.09 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,527,440. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About AON

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.