Sherman Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten 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 “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.21.

American Tower Trading Up 0.8 %

American Tower stock opened at $205.61 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.69. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $96.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 134.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Company 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.