Focus Financial Network Inc. Trims Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Focus Financial Network Inc. reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,743,000 after acquiring an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.23.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $189.90 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Company 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.