Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,536,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 69,300 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.33% of American Tower worth $298,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 21.9% during the 4th 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 period. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth about $164,300,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $232.31 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $243.56. 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 market capitalization of $108.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $224.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.24.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.29.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The transaction 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 that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.