1,390 Shares in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Bought by Costello Asset Management INC

Key Points

• Costello Asset Management INC has acquired 1,390 shares of American Tower Corporation, valued at approximately $302,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for American Tower, with Royal Bank of Canada and JMP Securities raising their price objectives to $260.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's performance.
• American Tower recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, resulting in an annual dividend yield of 3.2%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 247.27%.

Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after acquiring an additional 537,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in American Tower by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,570,547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,421,413 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,136,981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,335,407,000 after purchasing an additional 220,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,941,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,089,746,000 after acquiring an additional 455,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $208.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,633,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,092,103. American Tower Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $172.51 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $97.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $218.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. American Tower had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 24.85%. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 247.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 target price on American Tower and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.88.

American Tower Company 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.