DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Decreases Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 81.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 195,364 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in 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 worth $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of CCI stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,967,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,882,510. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's 50-day moving average is $101.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.41.

Crown Castle 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.