AON (NYSE:AON) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Aon plc (NYSE:AON)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $266.46 and last traded at $267.8650, with a volume of 47309 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $269.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AON has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AON from $416.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AON from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays upped their target price on AON from $372.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AON from $412.00 to $362.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.00.

AON Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $324.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $328.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.70.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. AON had a return on equity of 42.13% and a net margin of 22.27%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 18.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.08%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In related news, Director Lester Knight purchased 20,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $327.48 per share, with a total value of $6,549,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 163,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,379,240. The trade was a 13.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.76, for a total transaction of $717,744.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,504 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,751.04. This represents a 14.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in AON by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,115,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $746,526,000 after acquiring an additional 19,037 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of AON by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,582,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $510,857,000 after purchasing an additional 222,092 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of AON by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,502,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,103,000 after purchasing an additional 285,549 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of AON by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,253,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,709,000 after purchasing an additional 213,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in AON by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 795,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,762,000 after purchasing an additional 182,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, make better decisions and improve performance. Its services are organized around risk capital and human capital, combining advisory expertise, data, analytics and insurance-related solutions.

The company provides commercial risk brokerage and consulting, reinsurance brokerage, retirement and investment advisory services, health benefits consulting, talent and compensation consulting, and related technology and data products.