Great Lakes Advisors LLC Grows Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 444,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $81,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in American Tower by 431.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in American Tower by 113.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMT. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.29.

American Tower Stock Down 1.5 %

American Tower stock opened at $209.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.58, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.04.

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 predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. 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. American Tower’s payout ratio is 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.