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

Optas LLC lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after buying an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,599,074,000 after acquiring an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 4.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,211,397,000 after purchasing an additional 243,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AMT opened at $184.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.73, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.25.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.23.

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.