Werlinich Asset Management LLC Purchases 125 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Werlinich Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Werlinich Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Balentine LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Tower by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after buying an additional 314,769 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,156,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,128,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AMT. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.67.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock opened at $190.26 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.46. The stock has a market cap of $88.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

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.