Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,539 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 47.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,539 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $222.23 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $169.70 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $228.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.80%.

American Tower Company 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.