Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Acquires New Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after acquiring an additional 196,942 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after acquiring an additional 258,030 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after acquiring an additional 138,303 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $939,284,000 after acquiring an additional 56,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.83 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.35. 2,873,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,437,123. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.