Stephens Inc. AR Cuts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 71,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,956 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in American Tower were worth $16,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $66,000. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 1.8% in the third quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $224,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 1.6% in the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in American Tower by 4.0% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $213.54 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

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

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.