Bard Financial Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after buying an additional 1,160,890 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 23,224.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,941,000 after acquiring an additional 993,061 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 22,242.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,811,330,000 after acquiring an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMT traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $181.64. The company had a trading volume of 985,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,822. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $198.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.49. The company has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 76.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.08.

American Tower 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.