Freedom Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,524 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 724 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 23,224.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 997,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,941,000 after acquiring an additional 993,061 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings 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 valued at $643,571,000 after acquiring an additional 464,429 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $209.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market cap of $97.66 billion, a PE ratio of 88.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.54.

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.