Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,542 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price 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. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $113.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:CCI traded down $1.28 on Friday, reaching $102.69. 1,804,492 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,938,003. 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 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.30 and a 200-day moving average of $97.34. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

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.