Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 1,505 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 25.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,505 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $221.24. 694,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,453. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $228.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.83. The stock has a market cap of $103.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.83. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $157.25 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.92.

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.