Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Lowers Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 15.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,822 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 21,690 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 2.1% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $26,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 218.0% during the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $240.88.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT traded down $1.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $219.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,358,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,504,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $102.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Corporation has a twelve month low of $172.51 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The business's fifty day moving average price is $216.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.17.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. American Tower's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's payout ratio is 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.