Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,767,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Tower by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $170.46 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $195.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.43. The stock has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

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.