State of Michigan Retirement System Buys 100 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in American Tower were worth $25,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Applied Capital LLC FL bought a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at about $303,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in American Tower by 2.9% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 302,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,695,000 after purchasing an additional 42,797 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 126.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $192.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $89.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AMT. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.67.

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.