AJOVista LLC Acquires New Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $188,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its position in American Tower by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 76,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,542,000 after purchasing an additional 21,139 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,155,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,001,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded up $2.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $181.74. 3,130,327 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.39. The company has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. 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 firm earned $2.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower 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 transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

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.