American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC trimmed its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,589 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $185.93. 1,257,941 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,430,903. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.