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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

American Tower Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $190.51 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The stock 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verde Capital Management increased its position in American Tower by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 9,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $1,478,000. Bill Few Associates Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 2.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in American Tower by 14.5% in the 4th 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

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.