Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,394,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 142,926 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.73% of American Tower worth $622,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Partners Group Holding AG increased its position in American Tower by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $69,438,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in American Tower by 28.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 314,769 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,102,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Finally, CCLA Investment Management boosted its position in American Tower by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded down $4.65 during trading on Monday, reaching $215.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,070,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,434,344. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $202.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.72. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $170.46 and a fifty-two week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

American Tower Company 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.