Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 32,097 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 32,097 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $42,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% in the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $186.31 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a PE ratio of 78.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.42.

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.