Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,316,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,345 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.14% of American Tower worth $975,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in American Tower by 4.0% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in American Tower by 621.9% in the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower in the third quarter worth $139,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in American Tower by 10.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 127,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,896,000 after acquiring an additional 11,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Tower by 9.4% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

American Tower Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of AMT stock opened at $209.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $97.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.45, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $187.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.52. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 134.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value 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. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on American Tower in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.21.

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.