3,619 Shares in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 31.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 40,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,929,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in Crown Castle by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 77,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,612,000 after purchasing an additional 23,124 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 201.2% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 52,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1,198.7% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 30,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,966,000 after buying an additional 28,025 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CCI. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.80.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $88.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.36. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.07%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.