American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Shares Purchased by Ancora Advisors LLC

Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 12,673 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $24,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Tower during the fourth quarter worth $1,164,851,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,570,547,000 after buying an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 160.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,920,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $902,396,000 after buying an additional 3,032,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter worth about $193,246,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Tower from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $239.27.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of AMT stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $224.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,581,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,475,971. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $172.51 and a 12-month high of $243.56. The company has a market capitalization of $104.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.59, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. 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 $214.04 and a 200-day moving average of $201.87.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. American Tower's payout ratio is presently 174.81%.

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.