New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 574,971 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,621 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of American Tower worth $125,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partners Group Holding AG raised its position in American Tower by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $69,438,000 after buying an additional 28,988 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $71,252,000 after purchasing an additional 46,009 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 369 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 363,088 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $66,585,000 after buying an additional 85,693 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE AMT traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $220.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 241,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,667,989. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $216.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.33. 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 company has a market capitalization of $103.27 billion, a PE ratio of 56.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 174.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.88.

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.