Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 157,704 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 255,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 157,704 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Crown Castle worth $23,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,434,229,000 after buying an additional 151,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,218,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,625,000 after buying an additional 130,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $101.04 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.86.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.71%.

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.