Is American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) a buy?
To many market players, hedge funds are viewed as useless, old financial vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open today, Insider Monkey focuses on the masters of this club, around 525 funds. It is assumed that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their highest quality equity investments, we’ve brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as useful, positive insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to examine the newest info about American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT).
How are hedge funds trading American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 46 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 31% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the largest position in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT). Citadel Investment Group has a $247.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $226.9 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management, Andrew J. M. Spokes’s Farallon Capital and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management.
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, initiated the most outsized position in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT). Citadel Investment Group had 247.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw also initiated a $226.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AMT investors: Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management, Andrew J. M. Spokes’s Farallon Capital, and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management.
Insider trading activity in American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT)
Insider buying is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators 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). All of these stocks are in the reit – diversified 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) | 16 | 0 | 5 |
| W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) | 20 | 2 | 0 |
| Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) | 22 | 0 | 5 |
Using the returns explained by the previously mentioned studies, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) is an important part of this process.
