AON (NYSE:AON) Shares Down 4.2% - What's Next?

Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) shares dropped 4.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $354.10 and last traded at $355.59. Approximately 184,355 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,187,370 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AON has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of AON from $414.00 to $409.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AON presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $397.27.

AON Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $362.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $373.29.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. AON's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This is a boost from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. AON's payout ratio is 25.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of AON by 530.6% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,412,000 after purchasing an additional 9,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AON by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,237,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $444,563,000 after purchasing an additional 31,021 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of AON by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,676,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its position in AON by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,859,000 after acquiring an additional 40,850 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in AON by 43,000.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,404,000 after acquiring an additional 390,017 shares during the period. 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.