Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Price Target Raised to $89.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group raised its price target on Crown Castle to $89 (from $84) and kept a "hold" rating, implying roughly a 3.15% upside from the current share price.
• The analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $98.39, even as several firms have trimmed their targets recently.
• Institutional investors own about 90.77% of the stock, with large recent stakes reported by Norges Bank, Lazard and Cohen & Steers, while insiders have slightly reduced their holdings.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $89.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.15% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $114.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.39.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $86.28 on Tuesday. Crown Castle has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $115.76. The company has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $1,034,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445,237 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,536,214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953,685 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $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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