American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 45.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,876 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in American Tower by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 76,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,542,000 after buying an additional 21,139 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $801,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in American Tower by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 275,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,882 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $194.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. The company has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $188.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.07.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

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.