American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 934,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 263,876 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $201,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,701,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,943. The company has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 53.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.97. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. 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 (NYSE:AMT) last released its 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). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays raised their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.