American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,916,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 225,957 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,085,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Creative Planning boosted its stake in American Tower by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,591,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $275,000. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $189.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $88.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.92, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.79.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.79.

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.