Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Director Lester B. Knight Purchases 10,000 Shares of Stock

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $276.61 per share, with a total value of $2,766,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,448,790. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

AON Stock Performance

AON opened at $288.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $311.97. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $347.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its 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). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. AON’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aon plc will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in AON in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $289.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

About AON

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.