Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 15,954 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lowered its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 15,954 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of American Tower by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $214.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.13 and a 200-day moving average of $205.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a PE ratio of 90.38, a PEG 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during 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 earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost 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%.

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.