Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $278,000 Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $185.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $191.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.23.

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.