Crescent Sterling Ltd. Grows Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $309,000. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 71.7% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 10,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 4,310 shares in the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its position in shares of American Tower by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 33,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,681,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $316,000. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 434,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,920,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.36.

American Tower Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.56. 3,449,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,431,712. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.