Epiq Partners LLC Sells 192 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Epiq Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up about 1.4% of Epiq Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Epiq Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 218.0% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 193.5% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $212.57 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $99.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.78. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $172.51 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMT. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James raised their target price on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.25.

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.