Meketa Capital LLC Invests $813,000 in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meketa Capital LLC acquired 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 & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $813,000. Crown Castle accounts for 1.8% of Meketa Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 206,187 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,702,000 after buying an additional 49,687 shares during the period. LRT Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC now owns 15,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 2,392 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 64,672 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.5%

Crown Castle stock traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,966,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,350. The company has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $101.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CCI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 worth $3,362,752 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.