Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. cut its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,746 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 8,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,712,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,742,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $319,683,000 after acquiring an additional 11,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its stake in American Tower by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 73,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 13,531 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $205.61 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.