Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 2,870 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $302,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 20,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $115.17 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.72 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $50.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued 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 net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle 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 sale, the chief operating officer now 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. 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.