American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management significantly increased its holdings in American Tower Corporation by 383.2% in Q1, acquiring an additional 5,810 shares, bringing its total ownership to 7,326 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of American Tower at an average price of $208.33, resulting in a 2.98% decrease in his position, while still holding shares valued around $4.88 million.
• American Tower has announced a dividend of $1.70 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $6.80 and a yield of 3.2%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 247.27%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 383.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 5,810 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in American Tower were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Tower by 2.5% in the first quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,087 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.4% during the first quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT traded up $3.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $212.18. 3,232,190 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,055,015. 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 fifty-two week low of $172.51 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $218.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.88.

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.