American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC

Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 2,723.4% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,890 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 23,224.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after purchasing an additional 993,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 22,242.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $189.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.76 billion, a PE ratio of 80.14, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $192.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.51.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower 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 transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.