American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in American Tower by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 2,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $214.76 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $100.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.62, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.81. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $172.51 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) 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, 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 business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 174.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AMT. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.25.

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.