Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 128,628 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 128,628 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $10,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its stake in American Tower by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $69,438,000 after buying an additional 28,988 shares in the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its position in American Tower by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $71,252,000 after acquiring an additional 46,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management lifted its position in American Tower by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $214.82. The stock had a trading volume of 460,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,884,972. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50-day moving average is $215.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is 174.81%.

American Tower 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.