AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,145 American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $215.52 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 50 day moving average of $198.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.85. The company has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm 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 company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

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.