American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Adelante Capital Management LLC

Adelante Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 96.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,163,673 shares during the period. Adelante Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partners Group Holding AG grew its stake in American Tower by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,438,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in American Tower by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,252,000 after buying an additional 46,009 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $221.24 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $103.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.07.

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.