Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 5,269 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,269 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after purchasing an additional 691,934 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,195,545,000 after purchasing an additional 258,030 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after purchasing an additional 138,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in American Tower by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $939,284,000 after buying an additional 56,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays increased their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $195.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,119,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,624. The company has a market capitalization of $91.45 billion, a PE ratio of 43.44, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.95 and its 200 day moving average is $195.71. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

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.