Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock: Insider Robert Sean Collins Sells 2,500 Shares

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) VP Robert Collins sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $222,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,217.31. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.31. 3,331,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,890,032. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.32 and a 12 month high of $95.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.27. The company has a market capitalization of $38.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $995.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.12% and a negative return on equity of 42.11%. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.40 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 223.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 6.0% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 40.3% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 206,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,734,000 after purchasing an additional 59,179 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 29.9% in the third quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 71,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,770,000 after purchasing an additional 16,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,984,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CCI. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Crown Castle to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.27.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI) owns and operates wireless communications infrastructure in the United States. Its portfolio includes cell towers and small-cell networks that help wireless carriers expand coverage and capacity. The company leases space on its infrastructure to wireless carriers and other customers, allowing multiple users to deploy communications equipment on shared sites. Crown Castle has also operated fiber infrastructure and related services, which support small-cell networks and other connectivity needs.