S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Boosts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for about 1.7% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alera Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in American Tower by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMT. Raymond James upgraded American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, 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 on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $194.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,393,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,347,319. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.