Crown Castle Inc. $CCI is Cooke & Bieler LP’s 6th Largest Position

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,727,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,102 shares during the period. Crown Castle makes up about 2.4% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.62% of Crown Castle worth $206,537,000 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,635,117 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,034,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445,237 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,536,214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,685 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 591.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,471,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 422.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,581,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,895,756 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction of $113,835.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.4%

CCI opened at $75.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.72 and a fifty-two week high of $104.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.58.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 215.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.13.

Crown Castle 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.