Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 9,067 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,067 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $22,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 worth $3,416,004,000 after buying an additional 2,839,570 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,336,501 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,076,352,000 after buying an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $224.06. 1,796,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,367,787. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $236.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.65 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,227 shares of company stock worth $8,497,458. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.14.

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.