American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Stock Price Down 2.1%

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) shares were down 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $217.53 and last traded at $218.56. Approximately 223,864 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,362,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMT. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $246.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of American Tower in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.14.

American Tower Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.48. The company has a market cap of $101.74 billion, a PE ratio of 49.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.61%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,070,789.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of American Tower 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 in the company, valued at $12,070,789.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,227 shares of company stock worth $8,497,458. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,051,898,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,823,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,416,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 36.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,794,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,737,760,000 after buying an additional 2,336,501 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 4,985,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,076,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.