Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 55.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,454 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in American Tower by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 122,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,414,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,994,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in American Tower by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 268,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,334,000 after purchasing an additional 30,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 141,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,986,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $215.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.58. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

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.