Clearstead Trust LLC Sells 339 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Clearstead Trust LLC lowered its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of American Tower by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 22,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 10,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Postrock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,126,000. Renasant Bank raised its position in shares of American Tower by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 2,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,658,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.29.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $192.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.96.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

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.