Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 69,121 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 898,319 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 69,121 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for approximately 2.0% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.19% of American Tower worth $208,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT traded up $1.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $219.27. 1,392,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,293,269. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $157.25 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.21. The company has a market cap of $102.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given 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 2.96%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 121.80%.

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.