869 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Purchased by AJOVista LLC

AJOVista LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $188,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.74. 3,130,327 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. The stock has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.39. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

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

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.