JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $240.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $230.00 to $240.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Tower from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $230.42.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $234.72 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The company has a market cap of $109.61 billion, a PE ratio of 53.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.29. American Tower has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $236.00.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.52). American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,987 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its position in American Tower by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 23,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,540,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Commons Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 18.6% in the second quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the second quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 11.6% during the second quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

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.