Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 68.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 23,359 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Crown were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in Crown by 88.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 752 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crown by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Crown by 325.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 846 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis bought a new position in shares of Crown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Crown Stock Performance

CCK traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $107.90. 630,682 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,245,717. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $99.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.84 and a 1 year high of $108.05.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 26.98%. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Crown's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total value of $211,743.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,345. The trade was a 32.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $679,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 135,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,358. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CCK. Mizuho raised their target price on Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Crown from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.27.

About Crown

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.