Vista Capital Partners Inc. Takes $240,000 Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in American Tower by 218.0% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $226.14. The company had a trading volume of 57,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,630,750. American Tower Corporation has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a market cap of $105.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.13, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.73.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its 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. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 174.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.88.

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.