Vest Financial LLC Has $6.90 Million Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 73.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 13,437 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $6,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Partners Group Holding AG increased its holdings in American Tower by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,438,000 after buying an additional 28,988 shares during the period. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,102,000. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,252,000 after buying an additional 46,009 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in American Tower by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 42,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,815,000 after buying an additional 6,165 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $193,246,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $240.25.

American Tower Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $212.57 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $172.51 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a market cap of $99.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $215.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.78.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 174.81%.

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.