American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.
Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are many stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action surrounding American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT).
Hedge fund activity in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT)
Heading into Q2, a total of 35 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -10% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT). Citadel Investment Group has a $341.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $210.8 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management and Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital.
Seeing as American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global dropped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising about $233.8 million in stock.. Ken Heebner’s fund, Capital Growth Management, also sold off its stock, about $69.5 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.
Insider trading activity in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT). These stocks are National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC), Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY), Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO), and Public Storage (NYSE:PSA). This group of stocks are the members of the 0 industry and their market caps are similar to AMT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) | 10 | 0 | 6 |
| W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) | 11 | 1 | 4 |
| Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) | 22 | 0 | 3 |
| Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) | 18 | 0 | 4 |
With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
