Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 89,653 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 550,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 89,653 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.12% of American Tower worth $108,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after acquiring an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 76,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,542,000 after acquiring an additional 21,139 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of American Tower during the first quarter worth $801,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 275,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,459,000 after purchasing an additional 51,882 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $128,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $183.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.92.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of American Tower stock traded down $2.47 on Thursday, reaching $210.65. 1,596,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,347,689. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $194.62 and its 200-day moving average is $193.89. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $154.58 and a one year high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $98.37 billion, a PE ratio of 48.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.81.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.61%.

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.