Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Decreases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,689 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $13,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in American Tower by 8.1% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in American Tower by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,296,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of AMT stock traded up $3.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $201.80. 3,981,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,520. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.15, 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.83.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

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.