Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 2,201 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 39,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,762,000. One Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at about $233,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 22.6% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 27,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,722,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bcwm LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 5.0% during the second quarter. Bcwm LLC now owns 46,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $117.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a PE ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $111.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.