Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Buys 211 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CCI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Argus raised Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.41.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $100.71 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $101.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.66.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.