6,000 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Acquired by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $924,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,868,000. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 102,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,776,000 after purchasing an additional 9,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slow Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $187.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.97. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $87.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.93, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMT shares. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.23.

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.