26,287 Shares in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Purchased by Heritage Trust Co

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 26,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,821,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in American Tower by 78.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 217,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,908,000 after purchasing an additional 7,650 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $280,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,806,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

AMT opened at $208.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year high of $243.56. The stock has a market cap of $97.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.99, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMT shares. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.07.

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.