Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 106.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 3,868 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CCI. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Crown Castle by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,537,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,399,000 after buying an additional 13,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,839,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $257,671,000 after acquiring an additional 242,565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CCI. Raymond James upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI opened at $98.97 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $101.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.04. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09 and a beta of 0.88. 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 results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. 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 earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

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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