Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 12,416 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 12,416 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $13,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in American Tower by 24.2% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in American Tower by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $310,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AMT. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised 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, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.40. 303,514 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,399,162. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.33 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.52 and its 200-day moving average is $194.09.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given 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 3.72%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

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.