SPC Financial Inc. Increases Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after purchasing an additional 196,942 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,549,366,000 after buying an additional 583,892 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,737,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336,501 shares during the period. Finally, Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,468,977,000 after acquiring an additional 36,375 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $208.47 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $97.35 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $192.22 and a 200-day moving average of $194.20.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.67.

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.