Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,151 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $6,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Investors Research Corp grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 57.2% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $106.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.21. 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 Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.87%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

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.