Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. cut its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 41.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 875 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 49.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 252.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 4,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 44,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,459,000 after purchasing an additional 6,236 shares during the period. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $209.91 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $98.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $197.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.94. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.