Cetera Investment Advisers Decreases Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,333 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $9,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $111.48 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 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 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by 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.