Consolidated Planning Corp Makes New Investment in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMT. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.36.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,701,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,943. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $190.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.22.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.