Deutsche Bank AG Boosts Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,400,723 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 36,387 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.78% of Crown Castle worth $308,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Crown Castle by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 3,993 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 10,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 5,040 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $720,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.41.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI traded down $4.59 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $100.42. The company had a trading volume of 3,494,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,877,032. The company has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 0.93. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $101.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.77.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.