Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. CX Institutional raised 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 valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 7.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,999 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.1% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $189.41 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $88.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.05 and a 200-day moving average of $209.07.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.79.

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.