Northstar Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Northstar Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 804 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up approximately 1.4% of Northstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Northstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.91.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $179.20. 3,839,228 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,317,435. The stock has a market cap of $83.57 billion, a PE ratio of 56.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $193.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

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.