Sunbelt Securities Inc. Trims Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 84.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,869 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,532 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 36.6% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.92. 1,246,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,922,640. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $101.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.79. The firm has a market cap of $44.82 billion, a PE ratio of -9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion during 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%. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.