Fisher Funds Management LTD increased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 18.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 212,193 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 33,129 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $22,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 62.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,424 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.
Crown Castle Trading Down 0.2%
CCI traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.92. 1,246,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,756. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.48 and a 200 day moving average of $96.92.
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Crown Castle Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Crown Castle
Insider Transactions at Crown Castle
In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.
Crown Castle Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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