Equitable Trust Co. Increases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 212.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,189 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 122.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 8,033 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 111.5% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2.5% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 5.2% during the first quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 48,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $201.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.30 billion, a PE ratio of 85.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.83.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho upped their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.