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

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $362.06.

AON has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AON from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $377.00 in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AON from $338.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $361.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $372.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.46. AON has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $395.33.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.78%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In other AON news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total transaction of $256,321.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at $716,121.44. This represents a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total transaction of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. The trade was a 13.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of AON by 2.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,552,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,685,183,000 after purchasing an additional 309,702 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AON by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,059,977,000 after buying an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,405,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,449,000 after acquiring an additional 52,099 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,322,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,690,000 after purchasing an additional 38,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its stake in AON by 41.6% during the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,623,000 after acquiring an additional 883,761 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.