National Pension Service Has $185.05 Million Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

National Pension Service boosted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 857,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 23,276 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.18% of American Tower worth $185,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.91.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT traded up $5.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $186.76. The company had a trading volume of 865,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,445,070. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.09. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 41.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders 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 3.47%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.