Financial Counselors Inc. Cuts Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 86.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,034 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 98,314 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.06.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.58 on Thursday, hitting $103.99. The company had a trading volume of 533,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,220,702. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.43 and a 200 day moving average of $97.12. The company has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.66, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given 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 yield of 4.09%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.