Insider Selling: American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) CFO Sells 16,567 Shares of Stock

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $190.51 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.29. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional raised its position 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 valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in shares of American Tower by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 5.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.