Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Trims Holdings in American Tower Corporation $AMT

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC reduced its holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 13.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,714 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $10,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TFG Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,578,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. now owns 1,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Marion Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 5,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in American Tower by 2.9% in the second quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 1,729 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eugene F. Reilly bought 5,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $178.99 per share, for a total transaction of $994,110.46. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,274.11. This trade represents a 4,114.07% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Tower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $217.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on American Tower from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.79.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $179.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $84.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.92. American Tower Corporation has a twelve month low of $166.88 and a twelve month high of $234.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.49 and a 200 day moving average of $191.25.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.65 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 28.11%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 108.63%.

About American Tower

American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and develops wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure. The company’s core business is leasing space on communications sites — including towers, rooftops and other structures — to wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and enterprise customers. Its business model centers on long-term site leases and contracts that provide recurring revenue tied to the footprint and density of wireless networks.

Beyond traditional tower assets, American Tower offers a range of infrastructure and network services to support mobile, broadband and broadcast connectivity.