Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,197,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 695,624 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.47% of American Tower worth $403,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 6.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,484,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Atreides Management LP lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 143.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 186,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,288,000 after purchasing an additional 109,572 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth $2,329,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

AMT stock opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.20. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $101.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

American Tower Company 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.