Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $2.24 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 227.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 7.8% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 9.5% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,067,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Up 1.6 %

American Tower stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. 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 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.