AON (NYSE:AON) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $379.56 and last traded at $378.8870, with a volume of 198671 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $367.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AON. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AON from $396.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of AON from $372.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AON from $404.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.56.

AON Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $337.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $81.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.71.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.37 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.67 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 18.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 1,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.05, for a total transaction of $725,497.50. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 13,404 shares in the company, valued at $4,986,958.20. This represents a 12.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AON

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AON. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of AON by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 7,852,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,770,975,000 after buying an additional 4,387,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter worth about $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of AON by 40,219.8% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,922,000 after purchasing an additional 844,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,372,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.