Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $18.81 Million Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 12,679 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $18,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% during 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus upgraded Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of CCI opened at $101.80 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.70. The stock has a market cap of $44.33 billion, a PE ratio of -9.46, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -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.

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