ING Groep NV Sells 18,078 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 29.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,078 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in American Tower were worth $9,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 41.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 8.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $720,206,000 after purchasing an additional 302,676 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in American Tower by 16.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,571,000 after buying an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in American Tower by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $315,868,000 after buying an additional 6,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $1.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $196.45. 2,587,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,323,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.80 billion, a PE ratio of 82.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business 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 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company's revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower's payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.