American Tower Corporation $AMT Shares Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in American Tower Corporation by 126.0% in Q1, owning 97,495 shares valued at $21.2 million.
• American Tower's quarterly earnings report exceeded analysts' expectations, with $2.60 EPS and revenue of $2.63 billion, despite a 9.4% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Current analysts’ consensus rating for American Tower is a "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $244.47 based on the latest evaluations by brokerage firms.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 126.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,495 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 54,360 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $21,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in American Tower by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,000. Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $354,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $149,997.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of American Tower in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.47.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT stock traded up $2.74 on Friday, hitting $206.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,640,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,317,871. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36. American Tower Corporation has a 12-month low of $172.51 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $217.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.04. The stock has a market cap of $96.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.01. American Tower had a return on equity of 24.85% and a net margin of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. American Tower's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.