Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after purchasing an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,206,000 after acquiring an additional 302,676 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in American Tower by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,571,000 after purchasing an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in American Tower by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,193 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $221.49 on Tuesday. 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 $157.25 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.83. The company has a market capitalization of $103.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.11, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.