Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 45.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,911 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $180.81. 315,257 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,443,686. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market cap of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.03, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $219.10.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,264 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,757 over the last quarter. 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.