Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 228,007 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 228,007 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.84% of Crown Castle worth $1,119,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $561,714,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $6.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $100.89. 4,772,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,880,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.11. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -69.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle 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.