Wells Fargo & Company Lowers American Tower (NYSE:AMT) to Equal Weight

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

AMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded American Tower from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $235.21.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $219.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. American Tower has a twelve month low of $157.25 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.45.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its 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 return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 121.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Robert Joseph Meyer, Jr. sold 2,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 31,873 shares in the company, valued at $7,424,177.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 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.