World Investment Advisors Buys 1,728 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in American Tower were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.07.

American Tower Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of AMT opened at $220.43 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.04 billion, a PE ratio of 93.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. 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 (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

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.