William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 1,909,238 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 99.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,909,238 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Crown were worth $562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Crown by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Crown by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA now owns 57,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 45,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,758,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Crown by 3.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of CCK stock opened at $90.58 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.31 and its 200 day moving average is $89.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.84 and a 12 month high of $98.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.08. Crown had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 3.59%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Crown’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CCK shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Crown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Crown from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on Crown from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Crown from $113.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

Crown Profile

Crown Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the packaging business in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The company manufactures and sells recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, aluminum caps, non-beverage cans, and aerosol cans and closures.