Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 115,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $21,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in American Tower by 431.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 113.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Up 1.1 %

AMT opened at $213.17 on Tuesday. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $170.46 and a 1 year 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $192.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.61. The company has a market cap of $99.65 billion, a PE ratio of 89.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMT. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 research note on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on American Tower in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.79.

Insider Transactions at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.