Swedbank AB Grows Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Swedbank AB increased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 613,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.13% of American Tower worth $112,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after acquiring an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Tower by 4.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,211,397,000 after purchasing an additional 243,061 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $2.13 on Thursday, hitting $185.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 493,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,277,775. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.78. The company has a market capitalization of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 78.38, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. American Tower's payout ratio is 273.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.