American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas reduced its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,545 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in American Tower were worth $1,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after acquiring an additional 243,061 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $720,206,000 after acquiring an additional 302,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,537,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $822,772,000 after acquiring an additional 226,999 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $209.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $97.81 billion, a PE ratio of 88.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.14. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.54.

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.