American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in American Tower were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 196,942 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,549,366,000 after purchasing an additional 583,892 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,416,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in 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 worth $1,195,545,000 after buying an additional 258,030 shares during the period. Finally, Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,468,977,000 after buying an additional 36,375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction 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 $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $193.09. 641,652 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,419,823. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.23.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) 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 company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James raised American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, 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 for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

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.