American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Lowered by Signet Financial Management LLC

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,547 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Balentine LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Tower by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after buying an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,156,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,163 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 46.8% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 25,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,980,000 after acquiring an additional 8,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT traded up $3.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $177.02. 2,409,766 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,473,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.98 and its 200 day moving average is $211.92. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

About American Tower

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.