American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Reduced by Darwin Wealth Management LLC

Darwin Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,144,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,029 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 2,329.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $218,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 16,195.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after acquiring an additional 844,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after buying an additional 691,934 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 22.9% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $535,447,000 after buying an additional 607,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:AMT traded up $5.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $186.42. 2,587,972 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,464,592. The firm has a market cap of $86.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $188.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.99.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho began coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.