Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,810 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 7,744 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.15% of Crane worth $12,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CR. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Crane by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Crane by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter worth $101,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CR has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Trading Down 3.7 %

CR traded down $5.47 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $142.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 41,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,951. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $158.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.37. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $188.52.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Crane's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane's payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.