Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 11,427 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,742,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,427 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $319,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Tower by 51.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total transaction of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AMT opened at $205.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.81. The company has a market cap of $96.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. 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 twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.42%.

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.