Advisors Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $24,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 1.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 45,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its position in American Tower by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in American Tower by 21.2% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 107,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,661,000 after buying an additional 18,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 16.1% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.54.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $201.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $220.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.37. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during 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%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

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.