Marshall Wace LLP Buys New Stake in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,727 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,459,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crane by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,017 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Crane by 3.2% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 132,200 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,925,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Crane by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 128,577 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,351,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price target on shares of Crane and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Crane from $170.00 to $144.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.40.

Crane Price Performance

CR opened at $148.40 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.14. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $188.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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