First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 1,424 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glassman Wealth Services boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Raymond James raised American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.67.

American Tower Stock Up 1.3 %

AMT stock opened at $194.79 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market cap of $90.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.07, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $189.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.