Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Sells 635 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scientech Research LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 50.1% in the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 3,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 9.0% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in American Tower by 5.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,861 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 23.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 237,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,076,000 after acquiring an additional 44,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in American Tower by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 58,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,394,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $185.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $86.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average is $211.24. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.31.

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.