Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 184,064 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 115,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 184,064 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $38,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $171.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $79.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $192.37 and its 200-day moving average is $193.43.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

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.