Wells Fargo & Company Cuts AON (NYSE:AON) Price Target to $289.00

AON (NYSE:AON) had its price objective cut by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $289.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on AON. UBS Group decreased their target price on AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on AON from $378.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AON from $325.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $329.69.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $282.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. AON has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $347.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $315.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.36.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AON will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AON news, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total value of $6,420,445.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,690,098. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter valued at $423,030,000. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of AON by 410.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 654,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,184,000 after acquiring an additional 526,353 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of AON by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 950,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,514,000 after acquiring an additional 290,936 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AON by 401.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 344,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,097,000 after acquiring an additional 276,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AON by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,030,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,802,000 after acquiring an additional 273,141 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Company Profile

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.