Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Reduces Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 34.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 735 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,549,366,000 after buying an additional 583,892 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,416,004,000 after buying an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after buying an additional 258,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,468,977,000 after buying an additional 36,375 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $194.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,365,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,422,567. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The firm has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

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.