AON (NYSE:AON) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Overweight Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of AON (NYSE:AON) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $430.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $385.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised AON to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AON from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $438.00 price target (up from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $402.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.50.

AON Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AON opened at $371.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $363.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $368.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. AON has a 12-month low of $323.73 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The firm has a market cap of $80.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.87.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AON will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AON in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in AON during the first quarter worth $31,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in AON during the second quarter worth $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in AON by 56.9% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 91 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in AON during the second quarter worth $32,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.