Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 3,233 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,233 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $22,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,144,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 2,329.8% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $218,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,052 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 16,195.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after buying an additional 844,128 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Tower by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after buying an additional 691,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $535,447,000 after buying an additional 607,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $171.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $80.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $189.71 and a 200-day moving average of $194.53. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.27.

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.