Sigma Planning Corp Sells 4,274 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 55.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,274 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 0.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in American Tower by 5.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after purchasing an additional 691,934 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American Tower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after purchasing an additional 258,030 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after purchasing an additional 138,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $939,284,000 after purchasing an additional 56,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT stock opened at $174.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $191.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.19. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.24 billion, a PE ratio of 54.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.