Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,064 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 31.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,282 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Crown Castle by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,177,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,518,000 after acquiring an additional 67,072 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,002,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $593,498,000 after buying an additional 237,730 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.7% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,035,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $387,333,000 after buying an additional 391,127 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,962,000 after buying an additional 1,261,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 4,097.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,617,000 after buying an additional 2,464,094 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $106.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.48 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.94.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.90%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

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.