Bard Financial Services Inc. Cuts Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Crown Castle by 107.9% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3,672.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.0 %

CCI stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Monday, hitting $89.12. 1,222,797 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,898,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.87. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.65 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.30.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.93.

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.