Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Price Target Cut to $94.00 by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Wolfe Research cut its price target for Crown Castle from $114 to $94 but maintained an outperform rating, implying roughly a 10.06% upside from the current share price.
• Several other brokers have trimmed targets and ratings (e.g., JPMorgan to $95/neutral, New Street to $93/neutral, Wells Fargo to $85/equal weight), leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $98.28.
• Shares opened at $85.41 (52-week range $75.96–$115.76) with a P/E around 84.9, institutional investors owning about 90.77% of the stock, and two executives recently selling shares (insider ownership ~0.10%).

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from $114.00 to $94.00 in a report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wolfe Research's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.06% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Crown Castle from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. New Street Research lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $85.41 on Monday. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $115.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.31. The company has a market capitalization of $37.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $507,442. The trade was a 34.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,635,117 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,034,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445,237 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,536,214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,685 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 591.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,471,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,778 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 422.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,581,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $318,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,895,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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