Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Acquired by Man Group plc

Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 423.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,271 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 43,087 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE CCI traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.17. 1,852,483 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,878,924. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company 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 earned $1.72 EPS. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.