Spinnaker Trust Sells 12,125 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Spinnaker Trust cut its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 70.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,129 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 12,125 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,532 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 36.6% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $102.68 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $101.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 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.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle 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.

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