Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $278,000 Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $185.71 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $191.32 and its 200-day moving average is $210.78. The company has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a PE ratio of 78.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given 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 3.49%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.23.

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.