Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Sells 1,663 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd cut its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,663 shares during the quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMT. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the first quarter worth $2,892,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its holdings in American Tower by 138.9% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in American Tower by 5.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,621,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 33.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.4% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 152,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,367,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded down $1.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $171.01. 1,416,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,408,066. The firm has a market cap of $79.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.83 and its 200 day moving average is $193.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.