Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $4,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd 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 position in American Tower by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 4.9% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 243,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 38,436 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JMP Securities started 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $205.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.81. The stock has a market cap of $96.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.