Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 98,314 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 86.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,537,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,839,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $257,671,000 after acquiring an additional 242,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Argus upgraded Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $113.06.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

CCI traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $102.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,804,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,938,003. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $101.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.34. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $44.72 billion, a PE ratio of -9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 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 the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.