Schnieders Capital Management LLC Buys 2,500 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 111.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $1.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,658,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,235. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The stock has a market cap of $81.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $191.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.19.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.