Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 10,501 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 44.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,127 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 10,501 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI opened at $100.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.67. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.36, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -39.50%.

About Crown Castle

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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