Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,729 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 113,857 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $11,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the firm’s 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 $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CCI opened at $115.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for 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%. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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 report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

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.