Meketa Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meketa Capital LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $813,000. Crown Castle makes up about 1.8% of Meketa Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,083,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,925 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,708,000 after acquiring an additional 13,623 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.71. 2,455,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,881,227. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.93. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.66.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -58.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's 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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.41.

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.