Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,370 Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,370 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after buying an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after buying an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,194,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $471,452,000 after buying an additional 19,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $429,224,000 after purchasing an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CCI. Scotiabank increased their target price on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $104.97. 4,962,337 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,887,699. The stock has a market cap of $45.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.83%.

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.