Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $10.29 Million Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 15,183 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $10,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CCI shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.71.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1%

CCI stock opened at $102.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -58.18%.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.