Evercore ISI Upgrades AON (NYSE:AON) to “Outperform”

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of AON (NYSE:AON) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $420.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $407.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AON presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.67.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $349.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $370.20 and its 200-day moving average is $346.20. The company has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.05. AON has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $395.33.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. AON’s payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Insider Activity at AON

In other AON news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total transaction of $494,292.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. This represents a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,121.44. This trade represents a 26.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in AON by 953.6% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 6,170 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AON by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AON by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 8,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.