Toroso Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Get Rating) by 326.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 23,946 shares during the quarter. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 37,010,877 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,725,650,000 after buying an additional 4,919,828 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $815,548,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,925,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,862,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,426 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,909,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,505,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 82.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,463,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $270,233,000 after purchasing an additional 662,907 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle to $195.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle to $213.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.33.
Insider Activity at Crown Castle
In related news, Director Kevin A. Stephens acquired 699 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $173.60 per share, for a total transaction of $121,346.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Crown Castle Trading Down 0.7 %
Shares of CCI stock opened at $166.50 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market cap of $72.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.77 and a beta of 0.60. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.70 and a twelve month high of $209.87.
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 22.91% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.
Crown Castle Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 15th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 14th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 165.17%.
Crown Castle Profile
Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 80,000 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.
Further Reading
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