American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 20.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 990,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 259,305 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $230,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $192.01 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.