Connecticut Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,144,014,000 after buying an additional 1,541,029 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 2,329.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $218,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,052 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16,195.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after acquiring an additional 844,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of American Tower by 5.6% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 22.9% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $535,447,000 after purchasing an additional 607,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock traded down $3.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $178.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,310,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,455,205. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $83.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.80.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AMT. Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

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.