American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Epiq Partners LLC

Epiq Partners LLC cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,932 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up 1.2% of Epiq Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Epiq Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 3.7 %

AMT stock opened at $192.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.24. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $89.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.31.

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.