Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 82,140 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 25.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 243,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 82,140 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $47,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the second quarter worth $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.29.

American Tower Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $235.06 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $224.57 and its 200 day moving average is $202.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $109.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

American Tower 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.