Crown Castle Inc. $CCI Position Boosted by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP increased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 131.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 288,973 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $49,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,327,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,315 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.1% during the third quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 10,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 136.1% in the third quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 599,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,862,000 after purchasing an additional 345,692 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $507,442. This represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.4%

Crown Castle stock opened at $90.49 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.01 and a 52-week high of $115.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.59, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.31.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 420.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCI. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.13.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.