American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,662 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in American Tower were worth $21,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 49.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $228.79.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $214.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.38, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.66.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio 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.