Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Cuts Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 885 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its position in American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in American Tower by 49.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

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

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $101.16 billion, a PE ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.43.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

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.