Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $334.69.

AON has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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 AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $308.83 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $317.78 and its 200 day moving average is $314.49. The company has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. AON has a fifty-two week low of $284.85 and a fifty-two week high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 19.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $423,030,000. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of AON by 410.9% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after purchasing an additional 526,353 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of AON by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 950,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,936 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 401.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 344,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,097,000 after purchasing an additional 276,131 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of AON by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,030,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,802,000 after purchasing an additional 273,141 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.