BMO Capital Markets Boosts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $260.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its target price increased by BMO Capital Markets from $246.00 to $260.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $233.29.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock opened at $238.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $221.05 and a 200-day moving average of $201.23. 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 has a 1 year low of $154.58 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 146.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.