Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 30,080 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 268,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,080 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of American Tower worth $49,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Partners Group Holding AG grew its holdings in American Tower by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 378,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,438,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of American Tower by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,743,000 after buying an additional 314,769 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $1,102,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in American Tower by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,371,631.20. This represents a 20.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMT. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Scotiabank reduced 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. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.43.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $215.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.94, a P/E/G 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $198.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. American Tower’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.37%.

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.