Czech National Bank Purchases 5,576 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 5,576 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $10,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE:CCI traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $100.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,989,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,895,520. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $101.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.18.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.