Spire Wealth Management Trims Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Spire Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 18.4% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in American Tower by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 143,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 23,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 10.6% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 41.7% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,264 shares of company stock worth $3,458,757. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $181.22 on Wednesday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a market cap of $84.51 billion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.09.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

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.