Moors & Cabot Inc. Cuts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 113.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $211.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current 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 represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.