Morgan Stanley Cuts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $213.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $213.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AMT. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.21.

American Tower Trading Down 1.5 %

American Tower stock opened at $200.75 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 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.