Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,746 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $205.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.81. 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.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.