Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 44.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 164,322 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 50,874 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $14,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $105.68. 3,934,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,884,124. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $99.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.47.

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.