Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases 6,500 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in American Tower were worth $6,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in American Tower in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on American Tower from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of American Tower to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.27.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT traded up $1.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $213.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,812,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,510,020. The company has a 50-day moving average of $214.87 and a 200-day moving average of $201.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $99.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.97, a P/E/G 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.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. American Tower's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.