Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 2,744 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,744 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 9.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,750,000 after buying an additional 16,566 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in American Tower by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 114,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,248,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $185.71 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.36, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank cut their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.23.

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.