Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 314,769 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in American Tower were worth $260,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 worth $4,924,091,000 after acquiring an additional 635,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 204,426 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 25.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,642,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,474,934,000 after buying an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Tower by 41.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,395,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,333,000 after buying an additional 1,885,421 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Tower by 4.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE AMT opened at $182.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.49. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $85.31 billion, a PE ratio of 77.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NYSE:AMT) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AMT. StockNews.com downgraded American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.08.

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.