M&T Bank Corp Has $6.96 Million Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 8,847 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $6,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $103.96. 2,712,377 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,933,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.27 billion, a PE ratio of -9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $101.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.12. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% 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 quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.