Crown Castle Inc. $CCI Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 391,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 45,019 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.09% of Crown Castle worth $26,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the second quarter worth about $13,219,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,627,000. Saudi Central Bank grew its position in Crown Castle by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 30,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after buying an additional 14,451 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,855,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Crown Castle by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 674,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,089,000 after buying an additional 50,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Collins sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total value of $222,175.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,613 shares in the company, valued at $232,217.31. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CCI stock opened at $89.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.32 and a fifty-two week high of $95.07.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $995.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 223.68%.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI) owns and operates wireless communications infrastructure in the United States. Its portfolio includes cell towers and small-cell networks that help wireless carriers expand coverage and capacity. The company leases space on its infrastructure to wireless carriers and other customers, allowing multiple users to deploy communications equipment on shared sites. Crown Castle has also operated fiber infrastructure and related services, which support small-cell networks and other connectivity needs.