Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 15,183 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,340 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 15,183 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $10,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CCI traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $100.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,852,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,878,924. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.41. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -58.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp upgraded Crown Castle to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle 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 in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.