Franklin Resources Inc. Has $947.30 Million Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $947,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Tower by 2,723.4% during the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in American Tower by 456.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 922,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $215.52 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.34.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company 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 a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.43.

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.