Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Increases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.31, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.61.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

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.