Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Crown Castle by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,434,229,000 after buying an additional 151,990 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,218,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,625,000 after buying an additional 130,414 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities began coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $100.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.86. The stock has a market cap of $43.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -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.