American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Trimmed by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 78,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,263 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $14,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in American Tower by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 227,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in American Tower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Tower by 456.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.29.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $209.95 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.77 and its 200-day moving average is $206.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.14 billion, a PE ratio of 88.58, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.