American Tower Corporation $AMT Stock: Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Trims Holdings

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,036 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,584,000. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,944 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rajesh Kalathur bought 2,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $177.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,733.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 7,765 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,405. This represents a 57.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ruth Dowling sold 952 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.81, for a total transaction of $176,891.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,855,772.73. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Down 0.4%

AMT opened at $194.13 on Friday. American Tower Corporation has a 1-year low of $160.06 and a 1-year high of $202.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $90.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.64. American Tower had a return on equity of 32.71% and a net margin of 30.10%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.80 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 27th that permits the company to repurchase $2 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMT. Mizuho set a $208.00 target price on shares of American Tower in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of American Tower in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $198.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Tower from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on American Tower from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.11.

American Tower Profile

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its portfolio primarily includes communications towers, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems and other infrastructure used by wireless carriers, broadcasters, governments and businesses to support voice, data and video communications.

The company leases space on its sites to multiple customers, allowing them to install antennas and related equipment without building and maintaining individual tower locations.