Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 76,166 American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 76,166 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $13,938,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 922,701 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $947,295,000 after acquiring an additional 742,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $58,905,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Two 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $232.07.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT traded up $4.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.06. The stock had a trading volume of 773,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,322. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The business 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 firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.