Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 5,500 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $18,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:AMT opened at $214.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $198.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.01.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMT. Barclays boosted their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

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.