Skylands Capital LLC Sells 4,720 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Skylands Capital LLC reduced its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,720 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for approximately 1.6% of Skylands Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Skylands Capital LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $11,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 218.0% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $240.25.

American Tower Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $218.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,086,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,119. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $102.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.06, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.81. The firm's 50-day moving average is $215.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.81%.

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.