Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 14,608 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,608 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in American Tower were worth $38,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Tower by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,930,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,020,034,000 after acquiring an additional 196,942 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,984,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,135,227,000 after purchasing an additional 691,934 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 101,474.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,474,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after purchasing an additional 10,464,030 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,269,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,195,545,000 after purchasing an additional 258,030 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,628,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,090,046,000 after purchasing an additional 138,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.46, for a total value of $962,584.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,532,080.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Up 0.2 %

American Tower stock opened at $171.30 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $154.58 and a twelve month high of $219.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.99. The company has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.16). American Tower had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $224.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.36.

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.