Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 25,041 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 345,713 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 25,041 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.61% of Crane worth $40,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at $59,659,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,302,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Crane by 44.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 663,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $78,353,000 after acquiring an additional 204,924 shares during the last quarter. JS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crane by 98.0% in the 3rd quarter. JS Capital Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,536,000 after acquiring an additional 198,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 313.3% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 145,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,181,000 after buying an additional 110,247 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CR shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Crane in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Crane from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Crane from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.67.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $142.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.87. Crane has a 12 month low of $79.26 and a 12 month high of $150.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $142.41 and its 200 day moving average is $129.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $565.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.39 million. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

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.