Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 23.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,136,981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,335,407,000 after purchasing an additional 220,565 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $376,000. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in American Tower by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in American Tower by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 40,191 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMT. Citigroup upped their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $221.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,369,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,501,757. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $216.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.55. American Tower Corporation has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $103.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 30.20%. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. American Tower's 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.