Tranquility Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Tranquility Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 60.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,188 shares during the quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth approximately $2,892,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in American Tower by 138.9% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in American Tower by 5.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 33.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.4% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 152,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

American Tower Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $171.91. 167,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,390,997. The firm has a market cap of $80.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.09, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released 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). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.