MSH Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Key Points

• MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower Corporation, buying 10,525 shares valued at approximately $2.29 million in the first quarter.
• Successive significant stake increases were seen from various hedge funds, with Capital Research Global Investors and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing their positions by 66.5% and 23,627.3% respectively in recent quarters.
• American Tower recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share, indicating a yield of 3.3%, but has a high payout ratio of 247.27%.

MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,290,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 4J Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 15.8% in the 1st 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 lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE AMT traded up $2.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $206.20. 2,640,404 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,248,539. The firm has a market cap of $96.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $217.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current 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.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 24.85%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CEO Juan Font sold 720 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $149,997.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 23,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,880,130.25. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.47.

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.