American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 141,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $25,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in American Tower in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of AMT opened at $215.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.94, 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 $198.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.58. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. The trade was a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMT shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

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.