Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,660 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 41,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,157,000 after acquiring an additional 9,275 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 871,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,061,000 after purchasing an additional 43,531 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.92.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $226.30 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $157.25 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $228.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.61. The stock has a market cap of $105.70 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.90 billion for 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%. American Tower’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.80%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other American Tower 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 stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’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 value of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.