Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Increases Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the first quarter worth $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the second quarter worth $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the first quarter worth $38,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. HSBC began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.55.

Insider Activity

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

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded up $2.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $196.74. The company had a trading volume of 663,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a market cap of $91.75 billion, a PE ratio of 61.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $196.64 and a 200-day moving average of $191.96.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 213.84%.

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.