Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Sells 200 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho cut their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.42.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’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 directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $185.17 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average is $211.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.53 billion, a PE ratio of 78.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

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.