Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 26,800 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in American Tower Corporation by 22.8%, acquiring an additional 26,800 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 144,100 shares valued at approximately $31.36 million.
• The quarterly earnings report showed American Tower beating analysts' expectations with an EPS of $2.60 and a revenue of $2.63 billion, though revenue declined 9.4% year-over-year.
• American Tower recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, translating to an annualized dividend payout of $6.80 and a yield of 3.2%.

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 22.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in American Tower were worth $31,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 52.6% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 436,669 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,018,000 after purchasing an additional 150,436 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $964,000. Telemark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at about $10,880,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth about $321,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 831,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $181,029,000 after purchasing an additional 93,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $3.50 on Friday, hitting $206.51. 1,727,522 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,492. American Tower Corporation has a 1 year low of $172.51 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.70 billion, a PE ratio of 75.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. 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 is currently 247.27%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMT. HSBC lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Tower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.88.

American Tower 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.