American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Price Target Raised to $209.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $200.00 to $209.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. New Street Research upgraded American Tower from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $203.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on American Tower from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on American Tower from $254.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

American Tower Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AMT stock traded up $2.88 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $187.89. The company had a trading volume of 411,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,134,350. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.96 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.72 and its 200 day moving average is $185.76. American Tower has a fifty-two week low of $166.88 and a fifty-two week high of $234.33.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 108.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Tower

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,640,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,239,277,000 after acquiring an additional 611,801 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in American Tower by 28,121.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 37,686,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,616,703,000 after purchasing an additional 37,553,436 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Tower by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,987,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,634,000 after purchasing an additional 71,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Tower by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,499,035 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,361,675,000 after purchasing an additional 227,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in American Tower by 24.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,666,082 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,799,458,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and develops wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure. The company’s core business is leasing space on communications sites — including towers, rooftops and other structures — to wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and enterprise customers. Its business model centers on long-term site leases and contracts that provide recurring revenue tied to the footprint and density of wireless networks.

Beyond traditional tower assets, American Tower offers a range of infrastructure and network services to support mobile, broadband and broadcast connectivity.