Prudential PLC Reduces Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Prudential PLC reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 194,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,840 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $17,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provident Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 19,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after acquiring an additional 2,231 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $107.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.38. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.85%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Company 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.