The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Price Target to $120.00

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.55% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $114.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,537,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,333,980. The company has a market cap of $49.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $112.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $231,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 166,625 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $19,194,000 after buying an additional 4,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

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.