Insider Selling: American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Director Sells 700 Shares of Stock

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

American Tower Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:AMT traded up $2.66 on Tuesday, reaching $181.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,594,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,468,563. The firm has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 41.01, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.94. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

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.