Bailard Inc. Buys 1,922 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $2,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,299,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,144,014,000 after buying an additional 1,541,029 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Tower by 2,329.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,329,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $218,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,052 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 16,195.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 849,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,833,560,000 after purchasing an additional 844,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 691,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of American Tower by 22.9% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,255,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $535,447,000 after purchasing an additional 607,199 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 11,510 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.71, for a total transaction of $2,367,722.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,953,352.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela D. A. Reeve sold 5,054 shares of the company’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 $3,532,080.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Tower from $235.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Tower from $236.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.36.

American Tower Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE AMT traded up $1.34 on Friday, reaching $174.24. 310,923 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,404,601. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $190.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.67. American Tower Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.58 and a fifty-two week high of $219.10.

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

American Tower Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. American Tower’s payout ratio is presently 203.77%.

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.