Financial Counselors Inc. Cuts Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,734 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $23,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in American Tower by 3.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,599,074,000 after buying an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Down 1.6 %

AMT opened at $209.44 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $197.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.91. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

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

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.