QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,943 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,780 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,943 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in 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 own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial raised 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 report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $99.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.23, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.78.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This represents 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 valued at $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle 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.

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