American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 49.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,094 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AMT shares. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.91.

American Tower Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $0.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $176.21. 412,769 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,426,645. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $189.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.71.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.