Wedbush Securities Inc. Cuts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Tower by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price target 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. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $203.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $95.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $203.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.37. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 141.37%.

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.