Fayez Sarofim & Co Reduces Stake in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co reduced its stake in American Tower Corporation by 7.8%, selling 2,870 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 34,031 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Cohen & Steers, increased their holdings in American Tower, reflecting strong institutional interest with 92.69% of the company's stock owned by institutional investors.
• American Tower reported $2.60 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, but showed a 9.4% decline in revenue compared to the same period the previous year.

Fayez Sarofim & Co cut its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,870 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings in American Tower were worth $7,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 5,802 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 66,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,116,000 after buying an additional 27,983 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 63,626 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,669,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 115,839 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,246,000 after buying an additional 71,039 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE AMT traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $206.51. 1,727,522 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,116,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $96.70 billion, a PE ratio of 75.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $218.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.06.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 247.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,880,130.25. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Tower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. HSBC cut American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 price objective on American Tower and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.88.

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.