American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,000,283.70. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $217.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.92, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $206.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.67.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.