Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 115.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,555 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Crown were worth $592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 812,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,183,000 after purchasing an additional 8,739 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 22,833 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Crown by 588.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 4,757 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Crown by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 9,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Crown from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Crown from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.45.

Insider Activity at Crown

In related news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 135,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,096,358. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total transaction of $211,743.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,345. This trade represents a 32.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE CCK traded down $0.75 on Tuesday, hitting $99.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 739,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,635. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.84 and a 52-week high of $102.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $92.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.13.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 3.59%. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

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

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.