Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 4,651 Shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,651 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $6,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,516,890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437,602 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,074,956,000 after buying an additional 129,192 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after acquiring an additional 537,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in American Tower by 66.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $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 equities analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on American Tower from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $217.23. 4,018,525 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,492,595. American Tower Corporation has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $215.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. 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.