National Pension Service Has $185.05 Million Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 857,202 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 23,276 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.18% of American Tower worth $185,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 459 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Up 2.8 %

AMT stock traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $186.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,587,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,592. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $188.62 and a 200 day moving average of $194.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.17, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. American Tower's payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,264 shares of company stock worth $3,458,757 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMT. Scotiabank reduced their target price on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised American Tower from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.91.

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.