Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,356,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 276,534 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for 0.6% of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in American Tower were worth $248,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 worth $2,474,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,646 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 2,723.4% during the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,890,000 after buying an additional 1,160,890 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter worth $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 456.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 922,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,173,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,924,091,000 after purchasing an additional 635,726 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $212.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.77, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $196.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.10. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.83. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank decreased 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $229.43.

Insider Activity at American Tower

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