Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 227 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Partners Group Holding AG grew its holdings in American Tower by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,438,000 after buying an additional 28,988 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,743,000 after acquiring an additional 314,769 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,102,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in American Tower by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $209.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $197.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $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 12-month low of $170.46 and a 12-month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders 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 represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JMP Securities started coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

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.