Greenleaf Trust Increases Position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Greenleaf Trust increased its position in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,824 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 12,933 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up about 0.3% of Greenleaf Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in American Tower were worth $38,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,437,602 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after buying an additional 129,192 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after buying an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,421,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $1,164,851,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.88.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $221.61. 481,801 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,499,938. American Tower Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $172.51 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The firm has a market cap of $103.74 billion, a PE ratio of 56.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.54.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 17.34%. American Tower's revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

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