Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 76,604 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 12.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 671,147 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 76,604 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.14% of American Tower worth $130,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,248,812,000 after buying an additional 965,938 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,549,366,000 after buying an additional 583,892 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Tower by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,416,004,000 after buying an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,737,760,000 after buying an additional 2,336,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Akre Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,599 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,468,977,000 after buying an additional 36,375 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $1.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.50. 1,983,372 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,317,625. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $220.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.73. The stock has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

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.