DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 6,271 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,271 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $39,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 7,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in American Tower by 4.2% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in American Tower by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other 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 transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on 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, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $217.71 on Thursday. 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 $101.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $200.67 and a 200 day moving average of $204.16. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is 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.