American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Position Reduced by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden cut its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,075 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in American Tower were worth $13,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,364 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. boosted its position in American Tower by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. now owns 65,608 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,242,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in American Tower by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,840,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.29.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT stock traded up $3.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $211.02. 3,788,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,247,715. The company has a market cap of $98.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $192.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.