First Financial Bank Trust Division Purchases Shares of 9,886 American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

First Financial Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 9,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,299,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,336,501 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter worth about $164,300,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $231.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $228.29 and a 200-day moving average of $204.09. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $108.31 billion, a PE ratio of 52.48, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower 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 $14,223,890. 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 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AMT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.00.

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.