Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,633,241 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

by · The Markets Daily

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT – Free Report) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,142,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,633,241 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.32% of American Tower worth $1,428,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balentine LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $586,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of American Tower by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,660 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 27.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in American Tower by 29.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 41,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,157,000 after purchasing an additional 9,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Read Our Latest Research Report on American Tower

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $197.41 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.30, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84. 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 one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

American Tower Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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