American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Reduced by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association trimmed its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $364,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at $254,000. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $373,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 36.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 129,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,055,000 after purchasing an additional 34,670 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in American Tower by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 602,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $140,197,000 after buying an additional 4,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE AMT opened at $216.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $195.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.24. The stock has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.31, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMT. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

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.