Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $13.94 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 76,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $13,938,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,074,956,000 after acquiring an additional 129,192 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth about $1,164,851,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during 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 buying an additional 107,345 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 742,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,947,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $357,208,000 after buying an additional 10,343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $220.43 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $103.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.01, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.72. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results 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. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities initiated 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on American Tower in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on 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. Two investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower 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.