Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 17,722 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 81.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,135 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,722 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 101,474.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after acquiring an additional 10,464,030 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after acquiring an additional 258,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after acquiring an additional 138,303 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $172.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.22 billion, a PE ratio of 54.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.58. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.