Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Trims Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lowered its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $2.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.74. 3,130,327 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $189.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.80.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.