Xponance Inc. Has $8.09 Million Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,631 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 11,263 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $8,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $113.06.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 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 a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,804,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,938,003. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $101.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.54, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released 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 business 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 business'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 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.50%.

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.