Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 13,261 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance cut its Crown Castle stake by 71% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,261 shares and leaving it with 5,404 shares valued at about $480,000.
• Several other institutional investors remain heavily invested in CCI, and institutions and hedge funds collectively own about 90.77% of the company’s stock.
• Crown Castle recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.02 per share versus $0.47 expected, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $99.39.

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 71.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,404 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 13,261 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,769,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,200,406,000 after acquiring an additional 386,733 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Crown Castle by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,728,541 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,096,587,000 after acquiring an additional 266,963 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 33.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,437,685 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $621,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,291 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Crown Castle by 3.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,185,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $596,876,000 after purchasing an additional 177,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Crown Castle by 4.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,621,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $542,418,000 after purchasing an additional 232,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CCI. Wall Street Zen raised Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Crown Castle from $114.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. HSBC decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.39.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $86.67 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $115.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.61. The company has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a net margin of 25.13% and a negative return on equity of 64.64%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 175.62%.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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