American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 46.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 8,195 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in American Tower were worth $5,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,705,145 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $720,206,000 after buying an additional 302,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,310,893 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,571,000 after buying an additional 464,429 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,536,255 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $298,617,000 after buying an additional 69,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ClearBridge Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of American Tower by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 1,442,759 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $280,443,000 after buying an additional 84,180 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.54.

American Tower Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AMT traded up $2.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $201.17. 2,513,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,324,283. The company has a market capitalization of $94.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.90, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company's 50 day moving average is $221.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.24.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business 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%. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

About American Tower

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.