Bill Few Associates Inc. Grows Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 1.1% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 2,723.4% in the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,890 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 23,224.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after acquiring an additional 993,061 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 22,242.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $185.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $86.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.67.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.