Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 13,613 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 744,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,613 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.16% of American Tower worth $144,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Tower by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,416,004,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839,570 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,737,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336,501 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $164,300,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMT shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.29.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $235.16 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.