Simon Quick Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 4.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.42.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $186.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.29.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.