D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 715 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after buying an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 4.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after buying an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $192.51 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. 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 capitalization of $89.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.88.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.