LPL Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 5.9%, now owning 445,257 shares worth approximately $46.4 million.
• Crown Castle reported a quarterly EPS of $1.02, exceeding expectations, despite a 4.2% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Multiple analysts have set new price targets for Crown Castle, with the average target price sitting at $116.18, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.

LPL Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,257 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 27,683 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Crown Castle worth $46,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Crown Castle by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 117,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,579,000 after purchasing an additional 29,973 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 5,889 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 19,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,264 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $106.89 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $102.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. 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 $1.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.18.

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.

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