Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in American Tower during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMT. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 $7,424,177.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE AMT opened at $235.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. 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 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $223.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.03.

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). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

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.