Markel Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 126,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,050 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $45,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in AON by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in AON by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 17,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,253,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AON by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of AON by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,676,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $398.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $378.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $367.46. Aon plc has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $412.97. The company has a market capitalization of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON Company Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.