American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. trimmed its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.9% in 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. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% in 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 holdings in 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 worth $332,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted 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 valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 5,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.42.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the 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 directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $185.17 on Friday. 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 $192.31 and a 200 day moving average of $211.11. The firm has a market cap of $86.53 billion, a PE ratio of 78.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.