Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 993,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 64,157 shares during the quarter. American Tower makes up about 2.0% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned 0.21% of American Tower worth $182,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.07.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related 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 approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $217.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.86, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. 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 3.12%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

American Tower 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.