Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Reduces Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 69.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 49,971 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for 2.5% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balentine LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,743,000 after buying an additional 314,769 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at $1,156,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of American Tower by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMT opened at $184.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $190.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.61. The stock has a market cap of $86.41 billion, a PE ratio of 78.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.23.

About American Tower

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.