Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Takes $418,000 Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Personal Capital Advisors Corp lifted its stake in American Tower by 1.7% during the first quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 2,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in American Tower by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $172.19 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $193.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.74. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a market capitalization of $80.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.15, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. American Tower’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

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.