New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 428,762 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,044 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of American Tower worth $99,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 269.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.92.

American Tower Stock Up 1.5 %

American Tower stock traded up $3.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $216.21. 286,562 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,266,822. 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 company has a market cap of $100.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $228.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.39. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower's payout ratio is currently 121.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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