Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 224,444 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,170,522 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 224,444 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.68% of American Tower worth $689,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 218.0% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMT. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $240.88.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock traded up $4.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $223.31. 2,426,456 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,505,810. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $216.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.54 billion, a PE ratio of 57.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.81%.

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.