Korea Investment CORP Increases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 296,457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 123,198 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $26,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,434,229,000 after buying an additional 151,990 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,218,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,625,000 after buying an additional 130,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $103.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74 and a beta of 0.89. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.20 and its 200 day moving average is $100.78. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -69.71%.

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.