State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Lowers Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lessened its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,997 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $8,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $95,167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CCI shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Crown Castle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.47.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of CCI stock traded up $2.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $103.77. 838,154 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,872,266. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.18. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

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.