Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Lowers Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD cut its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 98.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,641 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 474,085 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD's holdings in American Tower were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $29,658,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 94,965 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,418,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 444,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $81,514,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE AMT traded up $3.25 on Friday, reaching $211.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,788,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,301. The stock's 50 day moving average is $192.33 and its 200-day moving average is $205.96. The stock has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.