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

Congress Asset Management Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 82.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,340 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in American Tower were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 303,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,979,000 after purchasing an additional 30,632 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in American Tower by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the period. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 126.7% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 98.7% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,840,000 after buying an additional 11,596 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.91.

American Tower Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AMT opened at $194.85 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.43. The firm has a market cap of $90.99 billion, a PE ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.79.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.