Morgan Stanley Boosts American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target to $196.00

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $196.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a neutral rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $217.36.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $172.02 on Monday. American Tower has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10. The company has a market capitalization of $80.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 13.31%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Tower will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.77%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total transaction of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total value of $2,367,722.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 1st quarter valued at $2,892,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its holdings in American Tower by 138.9% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in American Tower by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 152,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,367,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.