Fiduciary Trust Co Cuts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Fiduciary Trust Co reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CCI. New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.41.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of CCI opened at $105.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -58.18%.

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.