Wright Investors Service Inc. Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $177.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank cut their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.67.

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.