Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower Corporation by 9.9% to 5,410,707 shares, valuing its stake at approximately $1.18 billion.
• American Tower reported a net margin of 12.60% and earnings of $2.60 per share for the latest quarter, which slightly exceeded analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.70, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,410,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 488,218 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.16% of American Tower worth $1,177,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower 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 completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $206.51. 1,727,522 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,116,492. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.94. American Tower Corporation has a 1 year low of $172.51 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $96.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.09, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's payout ratio is 247.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Tower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, HSBC downgraded American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have 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 $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.