LGT Group Foundation Acquires 6,524 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in American Tower Corporation by 15.3%, now owning 49,132 shares valued at approximately $10.69 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for American Tower, with ratings ranging from "hold" to "strong buy", and a consensus price target of $243.88.
• American Tower reported earnings of $2.60 per share for the quarter, slightly beating consensus estimates, with revenue of $2.63 billion but a 9.4% year-over-year decline.

LGT Group Foundation raised its position in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,132 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 6,524 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in American Tower were worth $10,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $991,525,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 21.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,437,602 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 160.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $902,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 23,627.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,701,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $370,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $203.82. 2,636,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,192,818. American Tower Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $172.51 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.54. The firm has a market cap of $95.44 billion, a PE ratio of 74.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.82.

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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity 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 directly owned 23,425 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,130.25. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of American Tower in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $250.00 price objective on shares of American Tower and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Tower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.88.

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.