Naviter Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Naviter Wealth LLC lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for approximately 0.7% of Naviter Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,599,074,000 after acquiring an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $212.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a PE ratio of 89.66, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.72%.

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.