Cetera Trust Company N.A Buys New Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Cetera Trust Company N.A bought 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 and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have 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 Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $172.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $80.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.87, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.91 and a 200 day moving average of $193.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.