American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 107,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $20,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,416,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,683 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 965,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter valued at approximately $164,300,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $235.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $224.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower 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.