Diversified Enterprises LLC Invests $232,000 in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Diversified Enterprises LLC bought a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 25.4% during the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,160,890 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,246,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Tower by 456.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,124,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,269,000 after purchasing an additional 922,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Tower by 3.1% during 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 last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on American Tower from $215.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.29.

American Tower Price Performance

American Tower stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. American Tower Co. has a 52 week low of $170.46 and a 52 week high of $243.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.33 and a 200-day moving average of $205.82.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 141.37%.

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.