Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 730 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $8,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position 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. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

American Tower Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $204.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.13, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.94. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.