Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 652 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Investors Research Corp grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 57.2% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $97.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CCI. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $128.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.