Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 5,728 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 69.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,965 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 5,728 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $18,537,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 13.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 4,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.47.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI traded up $4.22 on Thursday, hitting $113.95. 6,095,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,238,189. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $49.62 billion, a PE ratio of -10.59, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's fifty day moving average is $101.74 and its 200-day moving average is $98.14.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.50%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.