Wallington Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wallington Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 69,960 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 1.9% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $12,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of American Tower by 6.9% in 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 lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $190.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.32. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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 is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.