ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 240,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 52,155 shares during the quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in American Tower were worth $44,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMT. State Street Corp grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after acquiring an additional 129,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,164,851,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in American Tower by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $947,295,000 after purchasing an additional 742,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMT shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 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 through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $217.71 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.86, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $200.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.16.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

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.