Natural Investments LLC Takes $2.99 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,992,000. American Tower accounts for approximately 0.8% of Natural Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMT. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American Tower by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $213.42 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. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.16. The company has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.05, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. BMO Capital Markets upped 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, February 26th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.29.

American Tower Company 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.