Insider Selling: American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Director Sells $128,450.00 in Stock

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $186.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $86.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $188.62 and its 200 day moving average is $194.99.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% in the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $221.91.

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.