Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,961 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 411 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $209.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.45. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a PE ratio of 88.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

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

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.