AON (NYSE:AON) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $379.00 to $394.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Approximately 506,644 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 69% from the previous session’s volume of 298,933 shares.The stock last traded at $354.61 and had previously closed at $354.98.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AON. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $363.00.

Insider Activity at AON

In other AON news, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AON. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in AON by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,552,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,183,000 after purchasing an additional 309,702 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AON by 0.4% during the third 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 during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in AON by 1.2% during the second 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,489,690,000 after acquiring an additional 38,447 shares during the period. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in AON by 41.6% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 883,761 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $76.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $372.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $344.00.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.78%.

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.