UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 14,132 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,132 shares during the quarter. American Tower comprises about 0.8% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $12,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in 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 boosted its holdings in 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 grew its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after buying an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMT. Citigroup increased their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $209.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.32 and its 200 day moving average is $204.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.