The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 835,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 41,923 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in American Tower were worth $194,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 23,224.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,941,000 after purchasing an additional 993,061 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 22,242.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,811,330,000 after buying an additional 775,379 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $123,861,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in American Tower by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,571,000 after buying an additional 464,429 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $208.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.16. The firm has a market cap of $97.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.54.

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.