American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Lessened by American Assets Capital Advisers LLC

American Assets Capital Advisers LLC cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,380 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for approximately 6.0% of American Assets Capital Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $18,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% during the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 456.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 1.6 %

AMT stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $192.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.82. The company has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two 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.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.29.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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 stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Profile

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.