National Pension Service Cuts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,051,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,212 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in American Tower were worth $192,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in American Tower by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 5,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $200.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.16 and a 200 day moving average of $206.96. The firm has a market cap of $93.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.70, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.21.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.