Vanderbilt University Buys 12,241 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Vanderbilt University increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 167.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 12,241 shares during the quarter. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 24.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 1.1% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in Crown Castle by 2.8% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 4,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in Crown Castle by 1.1% in 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 buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its position in Crown Castle by 10.9% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:CCI opened at $84.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.25. The company has a market cap of $37.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.94. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.96 and a twelve month high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 420.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $101.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at $507,442. The trade was a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.