American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target Increased to $196.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $196.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $217.36.

American Tower Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $172.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.09, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower has a 1-year low of $154.58 and a 1-year high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $192.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.58.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.