Novem Group Invests $279,000 in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Novem Group purchased a new stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,523 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in American Tower by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 19,176,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,516,890,000 after buying an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Tower by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,342,805 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,074,956,000 after acquiring an additional 129,192 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Tower by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,050,390,000 after acquiring an additional 537,136 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in American Tower by 66.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,164,851,000. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their target price on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James increased their target price on American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $211.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,573,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,516,210. The company has a market cap of $99.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.41, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $215.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.34. American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.81%.

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.