River Road Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,231 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $23,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 101,474.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after acquiring an additional 10,464,030 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,008,567,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2,329.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $218,682,000 after buying an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in American Tower by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,231,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,532,063,000 after acquiring an additional 962,800 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16,195.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after purchasing an additional 844,128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.36.

American Tower Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $172.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $80.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.83 and a 200-day moving average of $193.58.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. American Tower’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.77%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

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

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.