American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,356,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 276,534 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for approximately 0.6% of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.29% of American Tower worth $248,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted 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 worth $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $975,065,000 after buying an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 period. 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 American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $212.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $99.45 billion, a PE ratio of 89.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.