Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Cuts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,921 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth $30,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE AMT opened at $199.58 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $93.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $212.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.27.

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). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.54.

American Tower 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.