Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Decreases Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $211.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $228.14 and a 200-day moving average of $208.94.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMT. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank reduced their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

American Tower 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.