Balentine LLC Purchases New Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,518 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $586,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 41.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 23,224.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $231,941,000 after buying an additional 993,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $164,300,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 22,242.7% in 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. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $16.44 on Wednesday, reaching $197.41. 8,132,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,473. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.30, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.