Tradewinds LLC. Makes New $254,000 Investment in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $219.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.59, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $200.03 and a 200-day moving average of $204.07. 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 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

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.