M&T Bank Corp Cuts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 348,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,164 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.07% of American Tower worth $75,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,130,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $189.15 and its 200 day moving average is $194.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a PE ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

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.