Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 42,120 Shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its stake in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 42,120 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $13,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Balentine LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth $586,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in American Tower by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,421,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,743,000 after buying an additional 314,769 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in American Tower during the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 432,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 22,523 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMT opened at $189.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.51 billion, a PE ratio of 79.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $170.46 and a twelve month high of $243.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $186.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.71.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 16,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.10, for a total value of $3,000,283.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,371,631.20. This trade represents a 20.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $236.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $215.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of American Tower from $221.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.79.

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.