Brokerages Set American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Target Price at $217.55

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $217.55.

AMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. HSBC initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Tower news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 101,474.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after buying an additional 10,464,030 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,051,898,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 44.2% during the second quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 9,842,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,908,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016,160 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Tower by 21.9% in 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 period. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 46.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,576,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $197.40 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.05. American Tower has a 52-week low of $154.58 and a 52-week high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The company has a market cap of $92.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.68.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Tower will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

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.