Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 1,619 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,411 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,619 shares during the period. American Tower comprises 1.2% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings in American Tower were worth $10,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMT. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.21.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded up $1.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $209.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,969,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,220,900. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $188.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.43.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.72%.

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.