AON (NYSE:AON) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $395.65 and last traded at $395.02, with a volume of 345920 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $391.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AON shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.21.

AON Trading Down 0.9 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $368.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $361.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market cap of $84.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Insider Activity at AON

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

Institutional Trading of AON

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $596,665,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter worth $336,375,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of AON by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,067,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,582,000 after buying an additional 960,204 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its position in AON by 41.6% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 3,010,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,623,000 after purchasing an additional 883,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in AON by 334.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,050,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,475,000 after purchasing an additional 808,990 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Company Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.