Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys 31,616 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 113.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 31,616 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in American Tower were worth $11,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in American Tower by 21.9% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 36.2% in 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 buying an additional 2,336,501 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,076,352,000 after buying an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after buying an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Tower in the first quarter worth about $164,300,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.29.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $232.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.08 and a 200-day moving average of $202.24. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $108.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

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.