KBC Group NV Lowers Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 356,620 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 19,126 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned about 0.08% of Crown Castle worth $37,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 62.1% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.6%

CCI traded down $0.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $103.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,951,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,929,346. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.79. The stock has a market cap of $44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.