NewEdge Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

NewEdge Advisors LLC cut its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,812 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 672,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,086,000 after purchasing an additional 60,497 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Crown Castle by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,930,797 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,460,000 after purchasing an additional 511,763 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,025,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $535,480,000 after purchasing an additional 403,943 shares in the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 262,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,288,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,506,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $489,370,000 after buying an additional 54,078 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.2%

Crown Castle stock opened at $75.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.52. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.72 and a 12 month high of $104.61.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.