American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 3.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 914,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,420 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $198,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,809,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,667,344,000 after acquiring an additional 434,118 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,570,547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in American Tower by 4.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,383,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,606,621,000 after acquiring an additional 285,195 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 3.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,136,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,335,407,000 after acquiring an additional 220,565 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Tower from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Tower from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $149,997.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:AMT opened at $206.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.46 billion, a PE ratio of 74.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $218.21 and a 200-day moving average of $211.56. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 247.27%.

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.