Swiss National Bank Sells 62,900 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,255,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 62,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Crown Castle worth $121,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at approximately $629,431,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3,051.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,472,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $562,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,299,155 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth $121,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 33.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $375,697,000 after buying an additional 926,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 15,241.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 757,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,858,000 after buying an additional 752,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $88.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.11. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $77.01 and a one year high of $115.76. The firm has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.96.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 420.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Crown Castle from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. HSBC decreased their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.13.

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.