Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases 2,576 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,056 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 4,608 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,537,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in Crown Castle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,839,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $257,671,000 after purchasing an additional 242,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

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

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $1.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.29. 2,299,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,907,810. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $42.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business's 50 day moving average is $101.01 and its 200-day moving average is $96.94.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -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.