IMS Capital Management Takes Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

IMS Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 148,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 63,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, 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 is available at this link. In other American Tower news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $232.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $227.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.65.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

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.