Sarasin & Partners LLP Lowers Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 50.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,424 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 34,715 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $99.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,803,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,256,264. The company has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average is $100.90 and its 200 day moving average is $97.03. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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