Janney Capital Management LLC Acquires 2,424 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Janney Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,424 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 9,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Commons Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 5,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,658,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in American Tower by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 369,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,711,000 after acquiring an additional 53,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transform Wealth LLC raised its position in American Tower by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $186.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.68 and a 200-day moving average of $211.47. The company has a market cap of $87.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower 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 value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

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.