Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $50.17 Million Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 552,739 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 106,863 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Crown Castle worth $50,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI traded up $1.53 on Friday, hitting $102.30. 2,966,793 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,973. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business's fifty day moving average is $101.69 and its 200 day moving average is $97.66. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.54 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.41.

Crown Castle Company 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.