Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $14.36 Million Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,283 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,027 shares during the quarter. American Tower accounts for approximately 0.7% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $14,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,074,956,000 after buying an additional 129,192 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $975,065,000 after acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $947,295,000 after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at American Tower

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT traded down $3.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $210.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,133,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,444,982. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.64 and a 200-day moving average of $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. The firm has a market cap of $98.34 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 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. American Tower's payout ratio is 141.37%.

About American Tower

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.