B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Trims Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 41.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 21,379 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 owns 62,792 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $199.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.20.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current 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 3.12%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 141.37%.

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.