Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 623 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in American Tower by 380.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 34,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,419,000 after acquiring an additional 27,428 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $1,102,000. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the 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 directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $189.41 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $186.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.79. The company has a market cap of $88.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.92, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMT. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.79.

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.