AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $235.96 Million Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,014,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 153,112 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for approximately 1.2% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $235,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Up 0.3 %

AMT stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $214.06. The company had a trading volume of 361,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,281. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $228.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.42. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock has a market cap of $99.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.17, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 121.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

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.