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

AON (NYSE:AON) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $378.00 to $345.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $329.69.

AON Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $283.55 on Monday. AON has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $347.37. The stock has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $315.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $313.15.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AON will post 15.64 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.28%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total value of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last 90 days. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,311,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Busey Trust CO lifted its stake in AON by 36.5% in the third quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 4,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at approximately $746,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter worth approximately $1,746,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of AON by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 69,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,660,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.