California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 84,810 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,744 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Crane were worth $12,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Crane by 11.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,037 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crane by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,918 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,736,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $2,684,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at $17,062,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of CR opened at $137.09 on Friday. 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 $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. Crane has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $188.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.94.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on CR shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Crane 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.