Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 38,864 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1,529.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,864 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up about 0.5% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in American Tower were worth $8,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

American Tower Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $3.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $210.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,238,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,371,134. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $98.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.