American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,192 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.43% of American Tower worth $2,074,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 51.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

AMT opened at $217.78 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $199.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.20. The firm has a market cap of $101.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho dropped their price target on American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.