American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Stock Price Down 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) shares fell 2.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $222.12 and last traded at $222.65. 344,886 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 2,301,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.00.

American Tower Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $104.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.51.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.