Knuff & Co LLC Acquires 845 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 1.3% of Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 51.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $209.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.14 billion, a PE ratio of 88.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.04.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

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.