Lincoln National Corp Sells 279 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Lincoln National Corp lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,144,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 2,329.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $218,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 16,195.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after buying an additional 844,128 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after purchasing an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $535,447,000 after buying an additional 607,199 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:AMT traded up $2.66 on Tuesday, hitting $181.35. 2,594,849 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,563. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.94. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

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.