Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 4,862 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,862 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $19,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $1,243,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after buying an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 993,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 22,242.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $207.10 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average of $213.78 and a 200-day moving average of $212.73. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.83.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.54.

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.