Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 3,352 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 777,110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,352 shares during the period. American Tower makes up 0.9% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned about 0.17% of American Tower worth $142,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 130,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,273,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in American Tower by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,051 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,570,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in American Tower by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,122 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,754,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower 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 owns 62,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMT. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays upped their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $3.48 during trading on Monday, hitting $212.75. 2,879,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,269,026. The company has a market cap of $99.45 billion, a PE ratio of 89.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.71 and a 200 day moving average of $205.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

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.