Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 16,041 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 240,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 16,041 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Crown Castle worth $21,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,302 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,782 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 104.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 277,045 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,145,000 after purchasing an additional 141,293 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% 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 valued at $3,362,752 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,866,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,884,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $101.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.19. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -39.50%.

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.