Wendell David Associates Inc. Has $6.62 Million Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wendell David Associates Inc. decreased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,084 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,560 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $6,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% in 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. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 2.5 %

American Tower stock opened at $185.24 on Thursday. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.47. The company has a market capitalization of $86.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.16, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Insider Activity

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

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.