Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $23.91 Million Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,931 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $23,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Crown Castle by 95.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.8%

CCI opened at $99.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.02.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -39.50%.

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.