Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 3,918 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,280 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $10,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,194,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $471,452,000 after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after acquiring an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,380,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $397,530,000 after acquiring an additional 436,657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CCI shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $124.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.18.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $104.97. 4,962,337 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,887,699. The business's 50-day moving average is $102.54 and its 200-day moving average is $98.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $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 worth $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.