NFJ Investment Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

NFJ Investment Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 94,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $17,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 7,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in American Tower by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AMT opened at $217.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMT. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.