Blue Trust Inc. Has $1.35 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 42.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd raised its stake in American Tower by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 229,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,027,000 after purchasing an additional 31,940 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 2,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of AMT opened at $187.06 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.23.

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.