Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Sells 198 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter worth $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Barclays boosted their price target on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $173.90. 432,697 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,397,688. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $190.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.42.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

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.