AON (NYSE:AON) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Bank of America

AON (NYSE:AON) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $306.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $345.00. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 9.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on AON. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.43.

AON Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $279.30 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $309.77. The company has a market cap of $60.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.90. AON has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AON will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,448,790. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of AON by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in AON during the first quarter valued at about $34,788,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in AON in the first quarter valued at approximately $125,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in AON in the 1st quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 1,310.7% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 8,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.