Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Takes $1.32 Million Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,642 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,318,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, 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 transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 worth $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,677,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,940,356. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $101.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a PE ratio of -9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

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.