State of Alaska Department of Revenue Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,082 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.06% of Crown Castle worth $27,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the 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 now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.7%

CCI traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $100.09. 5,035,018 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,922,775. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.58 billion, a PE ratio of -9.30, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

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.