Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 250 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $3,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Tower by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,213,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,599,074,000 after purchasing an additional 204,426 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,208,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,211,397,000 after buying an additional 243,061 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $189.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $88.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.51.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho decreased 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on American Tower from $251.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.