Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,346,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 895,244 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.93% of American Tower worth $797,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower
In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
American Tower Stock Up 2.4 %
NYSE:AMT traded up $4.93 on Friday, hitting $213.25. 2,555,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,466,286. The company has a market cap of $99.69 billion, a PE ratio of 89.98, 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. 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 50-day moving average price of $205.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.85.
American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.
American Tower Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. 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. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AMT has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $232.07.
Check Out Our Latest Report on American Tower
American Tower Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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