Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 86.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during 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 boosted 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 worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 920,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have commented on CCI. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.06.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CCI
Crown Castle Trading Up 0.7%
Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $102.61 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $101.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92.
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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The firm's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.
Crown Castle Cuts Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.
Insider Activity at Crown Castle
In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Crown Castle
(
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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