American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Stake Lessened by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial trimmed its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 20.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 980 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in American Tower were worth $849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMT. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,074,956,000 after purchasing an additional 129,192 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,050,390,000 after buying an additional 537,136 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,570,547,000 after buying an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $224.07 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.60, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower Corporation has a one year low of $172.51 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 17.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 174.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. JMP Securities lifted their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.