Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Buys Shares of 9,903 American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 46.2% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,576,683 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,144,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 16,195.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,833,560,000 after acquiring an additional 844,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.67.

American Tower Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $194.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $189.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

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

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.