American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $213.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,437,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,277,362. American Tower has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $228.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.42. The firm has a market cap of $99.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.17, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total transaction of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $4,953,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,223,890. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,723 shares of company stock worth $7,795,397. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 23,224.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,941,000 after acquiring an additional 993,061 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at $164,300,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 22,242.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after purchasing an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.