Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,143 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 35.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,143 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in American Tower by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,416,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in American Tower by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in American Tower by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,144,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,029 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 16,195.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,833,560,000 after acquiring an additional 844,128 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, 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 value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AMT opened at $194.38 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

American Tower Company 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.