Cerity Partners LLC Has $16.41 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 39,775 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $16,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Partners Group Holding AG grew its position in shares of American Tower by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,438,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of American Tower by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after acquiring an additional 314,769 shares during the period. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.07.

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 Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $207.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $97.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $204.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.20.

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. Analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current 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 3.27%. 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.