Millennium Management LLC Sells 70,906 Shares of Crane (NYSE:CR)

Millennium Management LLC cut its position in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR - Free Report) by 40.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,616 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 70,906 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Crane worth $15,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Crane by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 390,980 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $59,331,000 after purchasing an additional 21,215 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Crane in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,447,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Crane during the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crane by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 477,604 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $72,476,000 after purchasing an additional 32,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Crane news, SVP Jason D. Feldman sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $230,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,871.60. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Crane from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Crane from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crane from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $186.00 price objective on Crane and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Crane presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.20.

Crane Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE CR traded up $3.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.82. 65,733 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 318,313. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $188.52. The company's fifty day moving average is $155.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $557.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Crane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Crane's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.94%.

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.