Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 118,860 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,121,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,860 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.18% of Crown Castle worth $464,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 57.2% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of CCI opened at $94.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.12. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Barclays upgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.75.

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.