Private Client Services LLC Acquires New Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Private Client Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $863,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the second quarter worth $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMT. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.36.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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

American Tower Trading Down 0.6 %

American Tower stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $178.12. 2,432,045 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,396,077. The firm has a market cap of $83.07 billion, a PE ratio of 55.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.57. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

American Tower Company 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.