Earnest Partners LLC Sells 216 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $1,164,851,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,570,547,000 after buying an additional 3,421,413 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in American Tower by 160.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $902,396,000 after buying an additional 3,032,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $193,246,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Two research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $233.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $210.81 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $211.28 and a 200-day moving average of $201.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current 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.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.