3,814 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Acquired by US Asset Management LLC

US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $2.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $184.04. 848,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,446,402. The company has a market capitalization of $85.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. 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 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.93.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 stock was 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 $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,264 shares of company stock worth $3,458,757 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

American Tower 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.