SWS Partners Acquires 1,162 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

SWS Partners lifted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in American Tower were worth $1,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during 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 holdings 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 worth $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $975,065,000 after purchasing an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of American Tower by 0.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,422,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,455,000 after purchasing an additional 38,436 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.21.

American Tower Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of American Tower stock opened at $209.63 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.96 billion, a PE ratio of 88.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.52.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.72%.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction 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 approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.