Founders Financial Securities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in American Tower by 21.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,683 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in American Tower by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,144,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 16,195.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after purchasing an additional 844,128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AMT. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.91.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $194.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,393,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,347,319. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $188.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.07. The company has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given 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%.

American Tower 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.