California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 273,579 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,345,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 273,579 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.31% of Crown Castle worth $129,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $629,431,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 3,051.5% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,472,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $562,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,299,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 591.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,471,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $431,418,000 after buying an additional 3,824,778 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 33.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,437,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $621,172,000 after buying an additional 1,605,291 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $121,726,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $87.44 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.23 and its 200 day moving average is $90.80. The stock has a market cap of $38.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.01 and a 52-week high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 420.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded Crown Castle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.13.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.