Oak Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Oak Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional boosted its position in American Tower by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its position 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% in the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in shares of American Tower by 4.2% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMT. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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 dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $177.02 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $194.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.79. The company has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

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.