Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Sells 3,484 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,484 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after acquiring an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,155,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.1% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,001,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 159,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,499,000 after purchasing an additional 29,848 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.08. 1,452,864 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,406,855. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.43. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% 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.