Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $929,000 Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in American Tower during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $194.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $188.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.14. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.