American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Blue Chip Partners LLC

Blue Chip Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $8,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.8% during the third quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $173.00 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.