Apriem Advisors Trims Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Apriem Advisors decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 28,258 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in American Tower were worth $8,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in 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. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMT. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho cut their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.21.

American Tower Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AMT opened at $200.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.81 billion, a PE ratio of 84.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $186.16 and its 200 day moving average is $206.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.