AON (NYSE:AON) PT Lowered to $289.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

AON (NYSE:AON) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $289.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective on AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $329.69.

AON Trading Up 0.5 %

AON stock opened at $283.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $315.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.15. AON has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AON will post 15.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of AON 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 approximately $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter valued at about $423,030,000. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in AON by 410.9% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,184,000 after purchasing an additional 526,353 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position 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 valued at $276,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,936 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 276,131 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 36.1% in 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 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.