The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on American Tower (NYSE:AMT)

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $230.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Barclays lowered their target price on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $221.67.

American Tower Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AMT opened at $194.79 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. American Tower has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.03 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued 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 is currently 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction 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 owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Modus Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 2,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 2.6% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in American Tower by 10.0% during the second quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 18,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,624,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in American Tower by 52.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.