Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Purchases 211 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in 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 bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.41.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $100.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.66. The company has a market cap of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -58.18%.

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.