Barton Investment Management Trims Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Barton Investment Management lowered its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,463 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,588 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up 2.3% of Barton Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Barton Investment Management's holdings in American Tower were worth $18,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in American Tower by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in American Tower by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 160.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $902,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032,005 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 23,627.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,701,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $370,346,000 after buying an additional 1,694,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. Two 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AMT traded down $3.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $212.57. 2,516,265 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,501,930. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $99.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio 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.