Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Buys 770 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in American Tower were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 157.9% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 0.4 %

AMT stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $173.04. 1,870,465 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,415,746. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $191.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.09. The company has a market cap of $80.70 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.