Skylands Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Skylands Capital LLC reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 35.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,975 shares during the quarter. American Tower comprises about 1.1% of Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AMT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 1.3 %

American Tower stock traded up $2.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $173.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,157,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,094. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly 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). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.