Woodline Partners LP Purchases New Shares in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,773,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Versor Investments LP raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 4,608 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Crown Castle by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $18,537,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $613,900,000 after purchasing an additional 348,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 98.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,399,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $99.57. 1,901,219 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,875,031. The company's 50-day moving average price is $101.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.30. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31 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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 4.27%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.