American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Stock Position Raised by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after purchasing an additional 965,938 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 8.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,206,000 after acquiring an additional 302,676 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,571,000 after acquiring an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in American Tower by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total value of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. StockNews.com raised American Tower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.92.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $225.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $228.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $160.49 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.80%.

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.