Arizona State Retirement System Has $24.72 Million Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $209.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.19, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $188.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

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.