Ethic Inc. Sells 14,317 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ethic Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,388 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,317 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Crown Castle by 37.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,167,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.41.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of CCI stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.06. 2,967,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,882,510. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $101.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.71. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company 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 firm posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

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.