HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Lowers Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $101.80 billion, a PE ratio of 91.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.20.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

American Tower 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.