Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,531 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 16,739 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in American Tower were worth $12,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 4.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.67.

American Tower Trading Up 0.2 %

American Tower stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.51. 2,882,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $192.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.29. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.