Legal & General Group Plc Sells 198,339 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,449,803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 198,339 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.17% of American Tower worth $1,059,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $801,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of American Tower by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 275,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $59,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,882 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 13.8% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,613,000 after buying an additional 4,660 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,401 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,029,000 after buying an additional 4,430 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 41,284 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,157,000 after buying an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $231.77 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $108.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $226.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.25.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.00.

About American Tower

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.

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