Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 1,592 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 target price (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.53.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $118.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.82. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $120.31.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

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.