Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 213,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,881 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in American Tower were worth $39,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Tower by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter valued at $1,156,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position 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 valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management raised its position in American Tower by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 22,523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $213.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $190.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.16. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during 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%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.29.

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.