FourThought Financial Partners LLC Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,301 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for about 2.4% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $19,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% in the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Barclays raised their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE AMT traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,130,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.39. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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 stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.