Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in American Tower by 21.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,737,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336,501 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in American Tower by 41.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $164,300,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.00.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT traded down $5.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $223.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,942,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,231,376. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $104.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $228.88 and its 200-day moving average is $204.46.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. This represents 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 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.