SouthState Corp Sells 153 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

SouthState Corp lessened its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 453 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,144,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 2,329.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $218,682,000 after buying an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 16,195.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after buying an additional 844,128 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Tower by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $535,447,000 after acquiring an additional 607,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.74. 3,130,327 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a PE ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. American Tower’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised 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. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.91.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.