Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $83.39 Million Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in Crane (NYSE:CR) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 549,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 105,920 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Crane were worth $83,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crane by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,037 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Crane in the third quarter valued at $293,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 6.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,918 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after purchasing 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 about $2,684,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,062,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crane Price Performance

CR opened at $137.09 on Friday. Crane has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $161.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.88.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released 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 net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,635,354.48. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crane presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.