Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,494 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in American Tower were worth $24,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in American Tower by 113.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.43.

American Tower Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $216.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $195.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. American Tower Co. has a 1-year low of $170.46 and a 1-year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given 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 yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Company 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.