DDD Partners LLC Sells 45,788 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

DDD Partners LLC trimmed its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 49.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 45,788 shares during the period. DDD Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $10,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 101,474.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after purchasing an additional 10,464,030 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $1,008,567,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 9,842,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,908,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016,160 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 2,329.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $218,682,000 after buying an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in American Tower by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,231,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,532,063,000 after buying an additional 962,800 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays raised their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. HSBC initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.55.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $197.40 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.08, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.68. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.05. 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 (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 213.84%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.