AON (NYSE:AON) Upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald has upgraded AON (NYSE:AON) to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting increasing confidence in the company's stock.
• AON's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, with an EPS of $3.49, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.09 and showing a revenue increase of 10.5% year-over-year.
• The stock has experienced significant institutional interest, with 86.14% of its shares owned by institutional investors, indicating strong support from this group.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AON. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AON from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $426.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $438.00 price target (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $410.69.

AON Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE AON opened at $370.88 on Wednesday. AON has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97. The company has a market capitalization of $79.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $357.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $370.68.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.16 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business's revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AON will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AON. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AON by 530.6% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 9,302 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AON by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,051,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $809,544,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in AON by 5.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in AON by 425.3% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. grew its holdings in AON by 64.4% in the first quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 7,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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