American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 42.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 2,723.4% during the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 23,224.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after buying an additional 993,061 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 22,242.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after buying an additional 775,379 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after buying an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $187.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $191.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.23.

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.