Essex LLC Decreases Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Essex LLC lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.92.

American Tower Stock Performance

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

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.