Ledyard National Bank Sells 187 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMT. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $2.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,442,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,320. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.49. The firm has a market cap of $80.66 billion, a PE ratio of 55.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week 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.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.77%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.