Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 151,990 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 151,990 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.79% of Crown Castle worth $1,434,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter worth $34,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,749,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,817. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.48 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 221.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.53.

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.