Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Trims Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 25.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68,830 shares during the period. American Tower comprises 4.5% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $45,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in American Tower by 3.3% during the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its holdings in American Tower by 2.3% during the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 2,476 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 5.4% during the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 4.9% during the second quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in American Tower by 4.6% during the first quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 1,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.00.

American Tower Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMT opened at $231.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $228.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.09.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.