Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 86.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,034 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 98,314 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in 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 buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% in 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 buying an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in 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 worth $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $1.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.69. 1,804,492 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,934,106. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $101.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.54, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid 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 4.14%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.06.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle 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.