American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $26,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $27,251,000. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in American Tower by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 19,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA grew its holdings in American Tower by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 28,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 8,115 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of American Tower by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 160.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $902,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,005 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $223.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $104.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $208.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders 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 3.05%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AMT. Barclays increased their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank cut their target price on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.07.

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.