Perpetual Ltd Reduces Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,140 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,457,000 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. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 1.6% during the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in American Tower by 4.2% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 5,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $189.94 on Wednesday. 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 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 $88.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.51.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.67.

American Tower 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.