Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,382,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,279 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Crown Castle worth $6,694,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Crown Castle by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 150,812 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,552,000 after purchasing an additional 7,876 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 5.0% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 108,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,431,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 41.6% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 924,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $88,923,000 after purchasing an additional 271,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter worth $270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of CCI opened at $90.55 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.01 and a twelve month high of $115.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.66, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $101.00 price target (down from $104.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.61.

About Crown Castle

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.