Brokerages Set Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Target Price at $321.71

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $321.71.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AON. Bank of America downgraded AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AON from $289.00 to $287.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $311.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $298.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.99 and its 200 day moving average is $301.90. The firm has a market cap of $64.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.91. AON has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $344.68.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AON will post 15.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AON by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,894,053,000 after buying an additional 64,500 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of AON by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,524,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,519,000 after purchasing an additional 22,346 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of AON by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,805,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,151,000 after purchasing an additional 127,173 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,331,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,406,000 after purchasing an additional 179,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AON by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,943,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $648,663,000 after purchasing an additional 471,424 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.