American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Research Coverage Started at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $230.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a neutral rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $221.67.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $194.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $90.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.69. American Tower has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after purchasing an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,549,366,000 after acquiring an additional 583,892 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in American Tower by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,416,004,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,737,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336,501 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in American Tower by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,195,545,000 after purchasing an additional 258,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.