Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Acquires New Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,386 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $1,164,851,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Tower by 456.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $947,295,000 after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 635,726 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $3.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $210.37. 2,133,472 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,444,982. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $202.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

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American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on 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 raised shares of American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average 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.