American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 270.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 466,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 340,742 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in American Tower were worth $108,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in American Tower by 41.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 23,224.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,941,000 after buying an additional 993,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,991,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,248,812,000 after acquiring an additional 965,938 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in American Tower in the first quarter worth approximately $164,300,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 22,242.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 778,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,330,000 after acquiring an additional 775,379 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 0.7 %

AMT stock opened at $195.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 82.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.82 and a 200-day moving average of $210.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $223.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on American Tower from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

American Tower 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.