IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Lowers Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lessened its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,859 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $111.75 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.05.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 229.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CCI. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.29.

About Crown Castle

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.