American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,164,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 742,632 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.11% of American Tower worth $947,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Family Legacy Inc. increased its position in shares of American Tower by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in American Tower by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 17,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 2,402 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in American Tower by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 65,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,064 shares in the last quarter. Bcwm LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,350,000. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 5,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price target 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $215.52 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day moving average is $204.34.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. 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.