AON (NYSE:AON) Price Target Lowered to $345.00 at Bank of America

AON (NYSE:AON) had its price target trimmed by Bank of America from $378.00 to $345.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an outperform rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $329.69.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $281.07 on Monday. AON has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $55.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $316.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.67.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released 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). AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AON will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AON

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AON. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $423,030,000. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 410.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,184,000 after buying an additional 526,353 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 950,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,514,000 after buying an additional 290,936 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 401.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 344,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,097,000 after buying an additional 276,131 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,030,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,802,000 after buying an additional 273,141 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AON Company 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.