Pullen Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Pullen Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 50.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 8,386 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $613,900,000 after buying an additional 348,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,399,000 after buying an additional 13,100 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CCI traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,811,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,873,376. The stock has a market cap of $43.66 billion, a PE ratio of 35.56 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $101.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.32.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by 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.