John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Grows Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,060 shares during the period. American Tower comprises 1.2% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 valued at $3,416,004,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 36.2% during the 1st 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. Edgewood Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,076,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,144,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American Tower news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 owned by company insiders.

American Tower Trading Up 5.3 %

Shares of AMT stock traded up $10.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $207.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,256,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,372,148. The company’s fifty day moving average is $192.22 and its 200 day moving average is $194.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.77 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

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.