DnB Asset Management AS Buys 3,700 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in American Tower were worth $22,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

American Tower Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $215.52 on Friday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day moving average is $204.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid 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 yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.