Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,560,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the September 15th total of 4,240,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 986,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in AON during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AON by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 168 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of AON from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AON currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $347.06.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AON
Shares of NYSE AON traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $358.48. 920,627 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,184,522. AON has a fifty-two week low of $268.06 and a fifty-two week high of $363.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market cap of $77.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $314.50.
AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. AON had a return on equity of 252.81% and a net margin of 18.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AON will post 15.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.58%.
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.
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