Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 522,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,477 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $112,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in American Tower by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 101,474.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,219,094,000 after acquiring an additional 10,464,030 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in American Tower by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,195,545,000 after acquiring an additional 258,030 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 2.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,090,046,000 after acquiring an additional 138,303 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.36.

American Tower Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AMT traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $171.41. 801,020 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,399,238. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a market capitalization of $79.94 billion, a PE ratio of 54.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $192.83 and a 200 day moving average of $193.58.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.