Loudon Investment Management LLC Purchases 950 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 950 shares during the period. American Tower comprises 1.3% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.0% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.4% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 45,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 9.2% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $214.19 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $195.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.66. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $228.79.

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.