Principle Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 616 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 157.9% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley upped 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, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

American Tower Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $171.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $190.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.