Indie Asset Partners LLC Takes Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Indie Asset Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,248,812,000 after buying an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 8.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,206,000 after purchasing an additional 302,676 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,571,000 after purchasing an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of American Tower by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,193 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Down 1.1 %

American Tower stock opened at $211.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $228.14 and its 200-day moving average is $208.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.68 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 273.42%.

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.