American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 119,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,662 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in American Tower were worth $21,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Tower by 113.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.79.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $214.19 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $195.13 and a 200 day moving average of $205.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.