Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,972 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 10,902 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 10.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Crown Castle
Crown Castle Trading Up 0.4%
CCI stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.71. The company had a trading volume of 3,004,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,946,351. The stock has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a PE ratio of -9.36, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $101.43 and a 200-day moving average of $96.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.
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 negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, 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 have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Crown Castle Profile
(
Free Report)
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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