Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 228,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,634 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $20,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Argus raised Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $100.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78 and a beta of 0.93. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.98. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

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