Rodney M. Smith Sells 16,567 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stock

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) 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 transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $190.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verde Capital Management increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 9,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,478,000. Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 16,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,095,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 1,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.