Sone Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 69,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $6,334,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,475 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $1.64 on Thursday, reaching $99.88. 2,992,698 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,879,503. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.06 and a 200 day moving average of $97.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.