American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Downgraded to "Equal Weight" at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $230.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock, down from their prior price target of $245.00.

AMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a buy rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on American Tower from $223.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on American Tower from $226.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $235.21.

American Tower Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AMT traded down $2.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $217.93. 1,924,253 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,296,121. The stock has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $229.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.12. American Tower has a 12 month low of $157.25 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower's payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,223,890. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Olivier Puech sold 10,005 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.27, for a total value of $2,333,866.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,070,789.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 21,537 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $4,953,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,843 shares in the company, valued at $14,223,890. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,723 shares of company stock valued at $7,795,397 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 410,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,391,000 after buying an additional 10,562 shares during the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 181,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $42,210,000 after buying an additional 18,100 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,908 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,994 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,627,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in American Tower by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 125,565 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,201,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. 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.