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

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

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AMT. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $221.67.

American Tower Trading Up 1.3 %

AMT opened at $194.79 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $189.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. American Tower has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.07, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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). American Tower had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Tower news, 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 transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,828.68. 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

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after buying an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,440,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,549,366,000 after acquiring an additional 583,892 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in American Tower by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,416,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 36.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,737,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,501 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American Tower by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after purchasing an additional 258,030 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.