Bailard Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,768 Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,226 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,979 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,218,431 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $473,625,000 after acquiring an additional 130,414 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.6 %

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,011,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,530,538. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.07. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61 and a beta of 0.88. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CCI shares. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Crown Castle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities began coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.75.

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.