American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. FMR LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 25.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 2,723.4% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,890,000 after buying an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 456.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the third 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. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $211.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.82. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities started 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. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.29.

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.