Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Sells 12,214 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE reduced its stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,939 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,214 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Crane were worth $14,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Crane by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Crane by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Crane by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Crane by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,975 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Crane by 1.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CR. UBS Group boosted their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crane has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.80.

Crane Stock Performance

NYSE:CR opened at $158.93 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.16 and its 200-day moving average is $161.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. Crane has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $188.52. 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 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 net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Crane’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

About Crane

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.