Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Takes $235,000 Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,020,034,000 after buying an additional 196,942 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in American Tower by 5.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after acquiring an additional 691,934 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in American Tower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,195,545,000 after acquiring an additional 258,030 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after acquiring an additional 138,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,711,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $939,284,000 after purchasing an additional 56,598 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Scotiabank decreased 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 report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.74. 3,130,327 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,879,452. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.39. The firm has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a PE ratio of 41.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. 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 fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.