American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,610,000 shares, a drop of 8.6% from the September 15th total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT traded down $2.25 on Thursday, reaching $225.27. 88,423 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,274,898. The firm has a market cap of $105.22 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.06. American Tower has a 12 month low of $157.25 and a 12 month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. This trade represents 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 worth $7,795,397. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the second quarter worth $27,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.21.

American Tower Company 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.