American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 685 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after buying an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 8.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $720,206,000 after purchasing an additional 302,676 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in American Tower by 16.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,571,000 after purchasing an additional 464,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in American Tower by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $315,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $226.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.51. The company has a market capitalization of $105.68 billion, a PE ratio of 51.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.83. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $157.25 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.92.

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.