Barr E S & Co. Increases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Barr E S & Co. grew its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up about 1.9% of Barr E S & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Barr E S & Co.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $31,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 456.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $947,295,000 after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $217.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,641,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.92, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $206.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.67. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

American Tower Company 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.