Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Decreases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lowered its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,634 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $975,065,000 after buying an additional 107,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $209.01 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.45. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

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.