Marion Wealth Management Increases Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Marion Wealth Management grew its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.9% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 2,839,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 36.2% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,336,501 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $164,300,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’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 value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 0.4 %

AMT opened at $224.25 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $157.25 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $228.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.