Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after purchasing an additional 129,192 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $1,164,851,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 107,345 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $947,295,000 after acquiring an additional 742,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,947,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $357,208,000 after acquiring an additional 10,343 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays increased their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $220.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.01, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $202.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.19. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

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.