Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 6,045 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 51,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,045 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in American Tower were worth $9,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. State Street Corp increased its stake in American Tower by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in American Tower by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.51. 2,882,489 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.