American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Holdings Raised by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,842 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $10,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 valued at $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Tower by 1.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $975,065,000 after buying an additional 107,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after acquiring an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $212.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a PE ratio of 89.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 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 previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 134.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.