DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 6,271 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 215,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,271 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $39,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at $2,329,000. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at $791,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in American Tower by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 13,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,222,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 279.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 5,742 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,229 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $217.71 on Thursday. 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.16. The stock has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a PE ratio of 91.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.