Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,249 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 16,873 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.06% of Crown Castle worth $23,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI traded down $1.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $99.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,992,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,875,898. The company has a market cap of $43.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.53. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.