American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $7,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in American Tower by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 140.6% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in American Tower by 113.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 59,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,549,000 after purchasing an additional 31,616 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co grew its stake in American Tower by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 20,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $180.32 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.68. 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 market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.67.

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.