Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.11% of American Tower worth $947,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 33.1% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 71,248 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,569,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 16,688 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,881,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Tower by 0.7% during the third quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 18,764 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,364,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMT. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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, American Tower currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $232.07.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $3.16 on Friday, reaching $225.03. 5,761,397 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,419,039. The company has a 50-day moving average of $201.51 and a 200-day moving average of $204.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $105.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is 141.37%.

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.