Toronto Dominion Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 263,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,873 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $23,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $102.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $101.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.49. The company has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.41.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% 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 valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Company 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.