2,696 Shares in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Purchased by 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 62.1% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $100.71 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.36, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $101.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by 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.

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