Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $43.57 Million Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 13,717.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 480,030 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 476,556 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Crown Castle worth $43,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $98.06. 2,967,894 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,882,511. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $101.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -58.18%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value 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 $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.41.

About Crown Castle

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.