Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $26.92 Million Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,299 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 18,261 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of Crown Castle worth $26,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 53.9% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,359 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $649,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 91.9% during the first quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 15,626 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,484 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 343.2% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $307,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.3%

CCI traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,327,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,942,939. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $101.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued 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 4.17%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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 upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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 investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

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.