538 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Acquired by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 8.0% during the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 4,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in American Tower by 8.1% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in American Tower by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,296,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $193.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $90.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $225.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.50. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.