Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 38,436 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.95% of American Tower worth $981,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of American Tower by 101.1% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,848 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 24.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in American Tower by 13.7% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,944 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 18,641 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,623,000 after buying an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Tower from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.16. 1,961,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,322,454. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $210.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. 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.