26,287 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Bought by Heritage Trust Co

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 26,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,821,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in American Tower by 113.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $208.55 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $204.73 and a 200-day moving average of $203.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $97.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.99, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

American Tower Company 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.