Trillium Asset Management LLC Sells 14,909 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Trillium Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 181,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,909 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $33,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 49.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $228.79.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.0 %

AMT stock opened at $214.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $100.42 billion, a PE ratio of 90.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $193.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.54.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

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.