Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 635 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter worth about $515,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the fourth quarter worth about $12,890,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Crane by 2.2% in 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 lifted its stake in Crane by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 145.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 25,400 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CR shares. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Crane Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of CR opened at $137.09 on Monday. Crane has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $188.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $161.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.00. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.