Hall Laurie J Trustee Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Hall Laurie J Trustee lessened its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in American Tower were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in American Tower by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 6,080 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMT. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $190.51 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.86 and its 200 day moving average is $211.42. The stock has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.