University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Buys Shares of 8,780 American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,780 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,610,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMT. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $3,516,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437,602 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower by 1.2% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,179,269 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,050,390,000 after purchasing an additional 537,136 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in American Tower by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,563,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,570,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Tower during the fourth quarter valued at $1,164,851,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMT shares. Barclays increased their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of American Tower from $231.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $210.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.43 billion, a PE ratio of 88.72, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $215.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.66. American Tower Co. has a 1 year low of $172.51 and a 1 year high of $243.56.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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