American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Position Reduced by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,959 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 48,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,643,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $259,000. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $309,000. Finally, Alta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 9.5% during the first quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 22,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 0.8%

American Tower stock opened at $217.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.84, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $215.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.37. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.25.

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.