Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,066 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $38,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 6.2 %

AMT stock opened at $203.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.01. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $95.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.00.

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.