Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 93.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 866 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 11,809 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of CCI traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,327,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,942,939. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $101.50 and its 200-day moving average is $96.70. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.46, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report 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. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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 issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is 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.