American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by Torray Investment Partners LLC

Torray Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 72.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,808 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 18,836 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 1.6% of Torray Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Torray Investment Partners LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $9,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after acquiring an additional 258,030 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in American Tower by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,090,046,000 after purchasing an additional 138,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in American Tower by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $939,284,000 after purchasing an additional 56,598 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.91.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other American Tower news, 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,264 shares of company stock worth $3,458,757. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE AMT traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,008,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,460,697. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $187.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.64.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

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.

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