Vert Asset Management LLC Has $18.78 Million Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,511 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 6.4% of Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $18,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in American Tower by 5.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in American Tower by 5.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 58,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,394,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 90.6% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter worth about $550,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of AMT opened at $192.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.72 billion, a PE ratio of 81.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.