B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Decreases Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 21,379 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

AMT stock opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $199.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.20. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $101.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.