Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Acquires 31,940 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd raised its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 229,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,940 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 5.1% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $42,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in American Tower by 269.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $185.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.53 billion, a PE ratio of 78.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho reduced their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.42.

American Tower Company 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.