Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Sells 16,940 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 98.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,940 shares during the period. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE CCI opened at $98.97 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 has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.17 and a 200-day moving average of $97.09. 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

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.