84,942 Shares in Crane (NYSE:CR) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 84,942 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $12,890,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Crane as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Crane in the third quarter worth $515,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 328.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,765,000 after buying an additional 18,236 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $20,515,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $92,707,000 after buying an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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Crane Stock Performance

NYSE CR traded down $0.73 on Friday, reaching $152.44. 1,787,899 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 235,316. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $162.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.62. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Crane (NYSE:CR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Crane's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane's dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.80.

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.