Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 112,131 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,178 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Crown Castle were worth $10,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.71. 2,455,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,808. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $101.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.71. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -58.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service - bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.