Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 4,276 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.06.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CCI stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $103.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,712,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,738. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $101.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.12. 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 $45.27 billion, a PE ratio of -9.66, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.50%.

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.