Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,516 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 25,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,311,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 448.0% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 26,229 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after purchasing an additional 21,443 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 8.5 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $103.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.40.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.07%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp upgraded Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.12.

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.