MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Sells 24,131 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB trimmed its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 50.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,748 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 24,131 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Crown Castle by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,475 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.15. 5,068,734 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,884,744. The company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $101.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.28. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.