Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 43.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,065 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% during the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after buying an additional 1,160,890 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 456.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,269,000 after buying an additional 922,701 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.61. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. 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 $101.16 billion, a PE ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

American Tower 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.