American Tower Corporation $AMT Shares Bought by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,028,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,930,530,000 after buying an additional 218,881 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 24.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,474,328 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Tower by 11.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,680,524 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,476,529,000 after acquiring an additional 708,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,371,875,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,563,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,229,659,000 after purchasing an additional 208,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $254.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $203.00) on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.79.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $178.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. American Tower Corporation has a 12 month low of $166.88 and a 12 month high of $234.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.42.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 29th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 108.63%.

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.