Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 19,256 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 405,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 19,256 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Crown Castle worth $42,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after buying an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after buying an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of CCI traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.69. 1,804,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,938,003. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.34. The company has a market cap of $44.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCI. Barclays raised their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James Financial raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.06.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.