West Coast Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

West Coast Financial LLC decreased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,214 shares during the quarter. American Tower comprises about 1.0% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $9,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of American Tower by 145.7% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMT. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $240.25.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $214.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.58. The firm has a market cap of $100.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $172.51 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm 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 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 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.