American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stake Lowered by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 80.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,159 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in American Tower were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after acquiring an additional 196,942 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Tower by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after buying an additional 258,030 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after buying an additional 138,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $939,284,000 after buying an additional 56,598 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.36.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $171.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 203.77%.

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.