Montchanin Asset Management LLC Has $464,000 Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Montchanin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,119,225,000 after buying an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,662,000 after acquiring an additional 58,903 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $100.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.91 and its 200-day moving average is $97.41.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCI. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Argus raised Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.