ProVise Management Group LLC Sells 542 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

ProVise Management Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 542 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 115,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,137,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $9,485,000. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,762,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $214.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $193.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.54. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.79.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.