American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,053 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $139,000. Graypoint LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.4% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,695 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $212.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 134.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.21.

Insider Activity

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.