Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Sells 2,805 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,805 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,336,501 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in American Tower by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,206,000 after purchasing an additional 302,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in American Tower by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,571,000 after purchasing an additional 464,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.21.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $230.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 444,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $157.25 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $228.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

American Tower Company 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.