First Trust Advisors LP Sells 6,768 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,768 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 59.5% during the first quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,855,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $232,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,860 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 29,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 163.5% during the 1st quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 79,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,492,000 after acquiring an additional 49,543 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Crown Castle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,325,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $514,320,000 after purchasing an additional 144,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after acquiring an additional 6,231 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $76.43 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.36 billion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.52 and a 1-year high of $112.75.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 215.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CCI. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research cut Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.13.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.