Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. Increases Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,706 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 1.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 204,426 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 4.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,211,397,000 after purchasing an additional 243,061 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $191.88 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $89.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.14.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. American Tower’s payout ratio is 273.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.00.

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.