Empower Advisory Group LLC Trims Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,728 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. FMR LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 23,224.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after purchasing an additional 993,061 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 22,242.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $188.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.56, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.99.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

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.