American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $11,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after purchasing an additional 965,938 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 41.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 302,676 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in American Tower by 16.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,571,000 after acquiring an additional 464,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in American Tower by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,630,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $315,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 1.8 %

AMT traded down $3.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $192.62. 566,084 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,311,133. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $225.56 and a 200 day moving average of $210.50. The firm has a market cap of $90.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 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 (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus 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.