American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Short Interest Update

American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,020,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the December 15th total of 4,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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 lowered American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 269.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

American Tower stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $190.51. 2,882,489 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,167,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company's fifty day moving average price is $192.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.54. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 80.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.84.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

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.

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