ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Lowers Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $711,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at $476,000. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in American Tower by 22.1% during the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 5,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $226.30 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $157.25 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $228.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.51.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 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.