Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Buys 44,152 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 811.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 44,152 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE CCI traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $100.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,068,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,885,969. The firm has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating 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. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company'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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.