American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 369,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,602 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.08% of American Tower worth $85,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in American Tower by 101.1% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 24.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 13.7% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 142.8% during the second quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 18,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 14.4% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $197.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $210.92 and its 200-day moving average is $213.17. The firm has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

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.