Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 156,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 91,023 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in American Tower were worth $33,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Personal Capital Advisors Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 2,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock opened at $172.19 on Wednesday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $80.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $193.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.74.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.05 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. 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. Mizuho started 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 on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.