New York Life Investment Management LLC Buys 32,392 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 32,392 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $23,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 49.8% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 181,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,241,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares during the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 7,689 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 3,103 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in American Tower by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.91.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE:AMT traded up $5.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,661,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,449,003. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.53. The company has a market capitalization of $82.47 billion, a PE ratio of 55.61, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.

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