Sigma Planning Corp Reduces Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,274 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in American Tower by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 176,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,056,000 after acquiring an additional 14,608 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE AMT opened at $174.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.78, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

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.