Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,198 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,045 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in American Tower were worth $9,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Balentine LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of American Tower by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in American Tower by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $22,128,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.67.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $190.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,882,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $192.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.42.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. American Tower's payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.