New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 48,006 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 648,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 48,006 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Tower were worth $139,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AMT. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.36.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.6 %

AMT stock traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.99. 876,724 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,407,965. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.61 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.09.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

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.