Citigroup Inc. Sells 128,827 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 711,335 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 128,827 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.16% of Crown Castle worth $84,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 107.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 159.0% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CCI. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,541,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,296,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.48 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The business's 50 day moving average price is $110.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.83. The company has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.