Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 2,477 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Palisade Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,477 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $9,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new position in American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,264 shares of company stock worth $3,458,757 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.91.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $181.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,968,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,455,344. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $188.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

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.