American Century Companies Inc. Decreases Holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,242,189 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 268,030 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in CRH were worth $299,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of CRH by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,156,017 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,341,258,000 after purchasing an additional 9,055,354 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of CRH by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,351,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,329,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of CRH by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,218,532,000 after purchasing an additional 618,786 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CRH by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,609,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $796,546,000 after purchasing an additional 826,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CRH by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,985,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $738,113,000 after purchasing an additional 165,825 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRH Stock Down 2.9 %

CRH stock opened at $94.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.30. CRH plc has a twelve month low of $71.18 and a twelve month high of $110.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.30.

CRH Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from CRH’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. CRH’s payout ratio is presently 15.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRH. Citigroup decreased their target price on CRH from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Berenberg Bank set a $120.00 price objective on CRH in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CRH from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised CRH from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.25.

About CRH

CRH plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides building materials solutions in Ireland and internationally. It operates through four segments: Americas Materials Solutions, Americas Building Solutions, Europe Materials Solutions, and Europe Building Solutions. The company provides solutions for the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure and commercial and residential buildings; and produces and sells aggregates, cement, readymixed concrete, and asphalt, as well as provides paving and construction services.