Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 332 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter worth $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction 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 own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock opened at $179.20 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $83.57 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.77%.

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.