Zions Bancorporation N.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. cut its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Tower by 113.9% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $209.91 on Thursday. 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 $197.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.57, 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 3.24%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

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.