Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 5,473 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,473 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.91. 1,902,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,870,281. 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 $44.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $101.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.46. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -58.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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 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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.