American Century Companies Inc. Has $284.33 Million Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,550,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,306 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $284,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 44,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,123,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $1,767,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in American Tower by 129.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 18,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,335,000 after buying an additional 10,256 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $129,000. Finally, Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American Tower by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 12,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.61. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.70 dividend. 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. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AMT. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.