AGF Management Ltd. Purchases 36,354 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,354 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $20,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 431.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in American Tower by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $209.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.14 billion, a PE ratio of 88.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.04. American Tower Co. has a one year low of $170.46 and a one year 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.

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

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from American Tower’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $219.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of American Tower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.29.

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.