DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Reduces Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 81.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 195,364 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Versor Investments LP grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,608 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $3,083,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 19.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $105.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.86. 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 capitalization of $45.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -58.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.