Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 14,790 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 252,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,790 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $46,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.51. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $88.76 billion, a PE ratio of 80.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84.

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). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

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.