MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Purchases 49,687 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 206,187 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 49,687 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $18,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRT Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 17.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,392 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 13,717.8% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,030 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $43,568,000 after acquiring an additional 476,556 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $98.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.71. 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 twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share 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%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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