American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by CCLA Investment Management

Key Points

• CCLA Investment Management reduced its stake in American Tower Corporation by 6.1%, owning 406,373 shares valued at approximately $88.5 million.
• Analysts have varying ratings; Goldman Sachs remains at a "buy," while Barclays increased their target price from $223 to $246.
• American Tower recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.2%.

CCLA Investment Management cut its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 26,518 shares during the quarter. CCLA Investment Management owned about 0.09% of American Tower worth $88,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 3.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,136,981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,335,407,000 after buying an additional 220,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in American Tower by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,941,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,089,746,000 after buying an additional 455,225 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.88.

American Tower Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE AMT opened at $212.18 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $218.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.53. American Tower Corporation has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. The company's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.27%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $149,997.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,130.25. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

American Tower Company Profile

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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