California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,631,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 65,641 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.35% of American Tower worth $299,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT stock opened at $215.52 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised American Tower from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.