Berkshire Bank Cuts Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Berkshire Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 84.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,683 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,921 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in American Tower were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $192.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.24. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $89.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.31.

American Tower Company Profile

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.