Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,544 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 28,478 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $26,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,079,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $470,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225,460 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 4,097.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $246,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 191.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $195,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,644 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in Crown Castle by 95.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $251,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.
NYSE:CCI opened at $90.73 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $105.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.92. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.69 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $39.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.86.
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.90%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.
CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.00.
View Our Latest Report on CCI
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.
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