Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 352,430 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,404,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 352,430 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.32% of Crown Castle worth $127,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in 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 valued at $525,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573,043 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $95,167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,675,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,866,651. The business's 50 day moving average is $100.05 and its 200-day moving average is $98.23. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company has a market cap of $46.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 0.93.

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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $107.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.18.

Crown Castle 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.