Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Bought by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,781 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% in 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 increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $105.19 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $101.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JMP Securities increased 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% 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 worth $3,362,752 over the last quarter. 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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