American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower Corporation by 10.1%, owning 80,633 shares worth $17.5 million at the end of Q1.
• Analyst ratings for American Tower have improved, with JMP Securities and Wells Fargo raising their target prices to between $240 and $260 and maintaining "buy" ratings.
• American Tower reported Q1 earnings with an EPS of $2.75, exceeding estimates, while revenue declined 9.6% year-over-year to $2.56 billion.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $17,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 388,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $71,252,000 after acquiring an additional 46,009 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 369 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its position in American Tower by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 363,088 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $66,585,000 after purchasing an additional 85,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in American Tower by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 231,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $50,487,000 after purchasing an additional 27,194 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities raised their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.31.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $229.75 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $218.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $107.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.82.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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