Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 14,000 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $8,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $260,743,000 after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at $1,156,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management lifted its stake in American Tower by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded up $4.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $214.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,458,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,725. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho lowered their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $229.43.

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.