AON (NYSE:AON) Price Target Increased to $327.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

AON (NYSE:AON) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $325.00 to $327.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on AON from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $334.69.

AON Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $308.70 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $317.81 and a 200 day moving average of $314.92. AON has a 12 month low of $284.85 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The firm has a market cap of $61.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AON will post 15.82 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. Shareholders 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. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AON. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.