Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 67,552 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI traded down $0.98 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.57. 1,901,219 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,877,625. The company has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $101.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.30. 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 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 4.27%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CCI. Scotiabank upped 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JMP Securities upped their price target 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. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

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.