Congress Asset Management Co. MA Lowers Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,565 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 0.3% during the third 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 buying an additional 196,942 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,549,366,000 after buying an additional 583,892 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Tower by 5.6% during the third 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 buying an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in American Tower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after buying an additional 258,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Akre Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,468,977,000 after buying an additional 36,375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $192.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.89. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.79.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

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.