American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Given New $196.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

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

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

American Tower Trading Down 0.6 %

AMT stock opened at $178.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $83.07 billion, a PE ratio of 56.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $193.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.68.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.05 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 203.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of American Tower

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Personal Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 2,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp raised its holdings in American Tower by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 1,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.