Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 386,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,664 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in American Tower were worth $83,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in American Tower by 23.5% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 2,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Tower by 1.9% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 13.9% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 24.8% in the third quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 47,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,889,000 after purchasing an additional 9,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, 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 insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 0.7 %

American Tower stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,701,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,943. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.22.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

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

About American Tower

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.