Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 495,820 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,060,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 495,820 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.24% of Crown Castle worth $103,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $115.30 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $111.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.11. The firm has a market cap of $50.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly 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. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.