American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 9.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 70,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.8% in 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. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 90.6% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter worth about $550,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.31.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $192.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.24. 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 firm has a market cap of $89.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 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.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.