Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 82.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,929 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 315,501 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $11,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 113.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $233.07.

American Tower Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of AMT traded down $8.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $212.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,045,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,240. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $209.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.35. The company has a market capitalization of $99.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week 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.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.