Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Acquires 144 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in American Tower by 1.4% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.5% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 45,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 9.2% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 10,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock opened at $216.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a PE ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $195.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.61.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

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.