Liberty Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. CWM LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of American Tower by 300.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 6.9% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in American Tower by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $188.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.44 and a 200 day moving average of $209.63. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

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.