Strategic Planning Group LLC Raises Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares during the quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $5,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 218.0% in the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in American Tower by 193.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 182 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMT. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $240.25.

American Tower Trading Down 1.7%

AMT stock traded down $3.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $212.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,865,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,497,229. The stock has a market cap of $99.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.76, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $215.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.70.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm's revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. 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.