Strategic Planning Group LLC Buys 978 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after purchasing an additional 243,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $981,455,000 after buying an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.23.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $183.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.66 and a 200-day moving average of $210.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Company Profile

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.