WD Rutherford LLC Cuts Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

WD Rutherford LLC reduced its holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 65.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,121 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,023 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter worth $1,512,000. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the first quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 1,907 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 49.5% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,147 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,918,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $215.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,665,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,486,491. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $172.51 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.40, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. The business's fifty day moving average is $215.28 and its 200-day moving average is $203.16.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. 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.