Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. FMR LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% in the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 23,224.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after purchasing an additional 993,061 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 22,242.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after buying an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AMT opened at $189.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.89. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.79.

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.