Chapman Financial Group LLC Invests $1.20 Million in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 21.8% in 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 buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after purchasing an additional 129,192 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised 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 bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities raised their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.27.

American Tower Stock Down 2.0 %

American Tower stock traded down $4.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $219.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,404,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,479,876. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $172.51 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.56, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $214.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower's revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. This is a boost from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's payout ratio is currently 174.81%.

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.