Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 142 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in American Tower by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $344,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in American Tower by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 33,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,248,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.14.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $242.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.20. The firm has a market cap of $113.42 billion, a PE ratio of 54.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.