American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $12,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,924,091,000 after buying an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after acquiring an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $975,065,000 after purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $229.43.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AMT traded down $3.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $209.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,646,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,344. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $196.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.10.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower's payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.