American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Equal Weight”

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $230.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $245.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Tower from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $235.21.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT stock opened at $219.27 on Thursday. American Tower has a 1-year low of $157.25 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $228.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.51. The company has a market capitalization of $102.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.61, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.93, for a total transaction of $508,020.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,424,177.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth $801,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in American Tower by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,613,000 after buying an additional 4,660 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,029,000 after buying an additional 4,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 29.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 41,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,157,000 after acquiring an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.