Wendell David Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Wendell David Associates Inc. cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 113.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 380.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 34,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,419,000 after buying an additional 27,428 shares during the last quarter. Raelipskie Partnership grew its position in shares of American Tower by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Raelipskie Partnership now owns 5,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in American Tower by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 90,746 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AMT. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Up 0.1%

AMT opened at $215.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.08. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 174.81%.

American Tower 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.