AMF Tjanstepension AB Grows Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 143.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 192,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,178 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in American Tower were worth $35,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after buying an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $981,455,000 after acquiring an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

American Tower Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:AMT opened at $212.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.72%.

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.