Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Sells 14,903 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in American Tower Corporation by 29.1% in Q1, selling 14,903 shares and now holding 36,378 shares valued at approximately $7.98 million.
• American Tower's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.60, exceeding analysts' expectations slightly, but revenue fell by 9.4% year-over-year, totaling $2.63 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.70, reflecting a 3.3% dividend yield and a high payout ratio of 247.27%.

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 29.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,378 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,903 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $7,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 218.0% in the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMT. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Tower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (down previously from $250.00) on shares of American Tower in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 price objective on shares of American Tower and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $149,997.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AMT opened at $208.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.99, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $218.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 247.27%.

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.

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