Occidental Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AMT traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $194.38. 2,393,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,347,319. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.14. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.91.

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.