American Tower (NYSE:AMT) PT Raised to $196.00 at Morgan Stanley

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $196.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.83% from the company’s current price.

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

American Tower Trading Down 3.3 %

AMT stock opened at $172.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $80.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.15, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.74. American Tower has a 52 week low of $154.58 and a 52 week high of $219.10.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

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.