NBT Bank N A NY Trims Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

NBT Bank N A NY cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in American Tower were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. FMR LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 2,723.4% during the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $193,246,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in American Tower by 270.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 466,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,553,000 after acquiring an additional 340,742 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.29.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $209.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.14 billion, a PE ratio of 88.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

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.