Creative Planning Sells 3,081 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Creative Planning cut its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,754 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,081 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 159.0% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $115.78 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.72 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $113.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.18 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.41%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

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.