AON (NYSE:AON) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $268.06

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $268.06 and last traded at $277.16, with a volume of 730889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $306.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group cut 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 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. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

AON Trading Down 8.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $55.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $317.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.43.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.07 by ($0.18). The company 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s payout ratio is 19.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,175,613.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total value of $4,098,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares of the company’s stock, 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 over the last quarter. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.