Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.77 Million in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,767,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $981,455,000 after buying an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 2.1 %

AMT stock traded up $4.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $214.38. 2,458,406 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,268,725. The company has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a PE ratio of 90.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. American Tower's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities began coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $229.43.

American Tower 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.