Farther Finance Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 49.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,167 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $213.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.95, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.61.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.79.

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.