BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 411,016 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 937,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 411,016 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $90,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 269.9% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at $507,442. This represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 directly owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Crown Castle from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research cut Crown Castle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, New Street Research downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.13.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $86.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.26 and its 200-day moving average is $91.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.53 billion, a PE ratio of 85.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 420.79%.

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.