American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lessened its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 27.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 139,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 53,625 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in American Tower were worth $27,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,416,004,000 after buying an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,737,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,501 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter worth approximately $164,300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock opened at $229.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.27.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.00.

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.