American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Short Interest Down 9.0% in April

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,640,000 shares, a decline of 9.0% from the March 31st total of 5,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its holdings in American Tower by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,718,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 76,625 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $16,542,000 after buying an additional 21,139 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,155,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in American Tower by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded up $3.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $175.06. 2,113,991 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,418,816. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.42. American Tower has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $81.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

About American Tower

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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