Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC trimmed its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 42.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,546 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $111.86 and its 200 day moving average is $104.03. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.33.

Crown Castle Company 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.