United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,324 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CCI. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $107.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.47.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.9 %

Crown Castle stock traded down $3.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.30. The company had a trading volume of 937,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,876,469. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.55. The company has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

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.