American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 51.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $214.38 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $198.39 and its 200-day moving average is $205.01. 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 results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

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.