Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 105,107 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 880,251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 105,107 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.19% of American Tower worth $161,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,164,851,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 456.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $947,295,000 after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON increased its stake in American Tower by 88.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 710,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $165,286,000 after purchasing an additional 333,209 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded up $0.26 on Thursday, hitting $207.74. 1,662,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,470,482. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.03, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business's fifty day moving average is $204.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.20.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. American Tower's payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMT. 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 target price for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

American Tower Company 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.