Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,327,972 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 64,881 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.53% of Crown Castle worth $242,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after purchasing an additional 920,428 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America started coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $101.78 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.04.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% 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 the 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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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