Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,494 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in American Tower were worth $24,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 2.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.16 billion, a PE ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities initiated 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.