Applied Capital LLC FL Increases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,131 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,917 shares during the quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.06.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $102.69 on Friday. 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 $44.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.30.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 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 valued at $3,362,752 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently 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.

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