PDS Planning Inc Has $477,000 Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in American Tower were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in American Tower by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 130,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 412.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $228.79.

American Tower Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMT opened at $214.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.54. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $100.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% 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.