American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Brasada Capital Management LP

Brasada Capital Management LP lessened its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,231 shares during the period. American Tower makes up approximately 1.1% of Brasada Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Brasada Capital Management LP’s holdings in American Tower were worth $6,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after acquiring an additional 129,192 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in American Tower by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $1,164,851,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.07.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $221.08 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $209.52 and a 200-day moving average of $202.35. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $103.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 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.