Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT – Get Rating) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,542 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Tower were worth $39,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Investment Fund purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at about $483,831,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 43.5% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,201,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,585,028,000 after buying an additional 1,879,086 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 23.3% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,329,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,384,422,000 after buying an additional 1,762,240 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of American Tower by 33.2% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,101,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,303,883,000 after buying an additional 1,270,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at about $204,809,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AMT opened at $199.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $213.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.04, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.56. American Tower Co. has a twelve month low of $178.17 and a twelve month high of $282.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported ($1.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.16 by ($3.63). The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 9.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a $1.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 162.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of American Tower from $278.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of American Tower from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $325.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $251.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Samme L. Thompson sold 1,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.59, for a total value of $380,128.01. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,099 shares in the company, valued at $4,830,620.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 2,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.85, for a total transaction of $449,429.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,743,248.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Samme L. Thompson sold 1,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.59, for a total transaction of $380,128.01. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,830,620.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,587 shares of company stock worth $1,947,849 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Tower Profile

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American Tower Corp. provides real estate investment services, and owns, operates, and develops multi-tenant real estate properties. It offers leasing of space on communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcast companies. It operates through the following segments: U.S.