Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Increases Stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $16,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the third quarter worth $336,375,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of AON by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 43,000.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 390,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,404,000 after purchasing an additional 390,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $444,563,000 after purchasing an additional 31,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AON by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,844,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,059,977,000 after purchasing an additional 32,417 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AON has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $386.21.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $404.18 on Thursday. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $375.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.93.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 70.84%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

About AON

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.