HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $2.08 Million Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after buying an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $1,164,851,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after buying an additional 107,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $947,295,000 after buying an additional 742,632 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

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

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $101.80 billion, a PE ratio of 91.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.20.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.