Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Sells 570 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.67.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $185.24 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.56 billion, a PE ratio of 78.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

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.