Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $27.52 Million Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 25.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 39,450 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $27,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Patron Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Tower by 4.0% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,846,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 5,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Tower by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on American Tower from $248.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

AMT opened at $193.72 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market cap of $90.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $225.56 and its 200-day moving average is $210.50.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($1.56). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

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.