Defined Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Defined Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.67.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $190.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 80.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $193.09 and a 200 day moving average of $211.32.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.