First Western Trust Bank Lowers Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

First Western Trust Bank reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank's holdings in American Tower were worth $3,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smith Moore & CO. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 4,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Prudential PLC raised its stake in American Tower by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 118,470 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,729,000 after buying an additional 16,984 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in American Tower by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 993,577 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $182,232,000 after buying an additional 64,157 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its stake in American Tower by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 240,634 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,135,000 after acquiring an additional 52,155 shares during the period. Finally, Grant Private Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $260,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $205.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,693,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,455,903. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.37. The stock has a market cap of $95.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.