DF Dent & Co. Inc. Has $39.46 Million Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,123 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,271 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.'s holdings in American Tower were worth $39,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 456.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $947,295,000 after buying an additional 742,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded down $2.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $210.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,133,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,444,982. The firm has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.67, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.59. 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 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. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Two investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.