American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $1,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 17,963 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 110.6% during the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,037 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 150,100.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in American Tower by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 10,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 5,281 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $212.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.78. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $99.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $240.25.

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.

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