Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 467.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 368,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303,647 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Crown were worth $35,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Crown by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Crown by 156.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Crown by 172.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown during the third quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total transaction of $725,475.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at $54,524,572.94. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total value of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,402 shares in the company, valued at $10,970,007.78. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,506 shares of company stock worth $3,157,399 in the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CCK opened at $93.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 114.84, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.61 and a twelve month high of $98.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.04.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 0.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Crown’s payout ratio is currently 123.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $110.00 price target on shares of Crown in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Crown from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.62.

Crown Company 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.