Creative Planning Buys 3,861 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 70,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in American Tower were worth $13,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBT Bank N A NY increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its stake in American Tower by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 2,476 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 1,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.00.

American Tower Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $232.46 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $108.58 billion, a PE ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $227.39 and its 200 day moving average is $203.65.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,223,890. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.