Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Crown Castle worth $5,672,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $106.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.04.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

About Crown Castle

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.