Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Acquires Shares of 139,239 Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 139,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $12,637,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during 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 lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings 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 worth $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CCI stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $100.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,068,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,885,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $101.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Crown Castle

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.