Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes $30.44 Million Position in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 130,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $30,435,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in American Tower by 269.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in American Tower in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Tower during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Tower Price Performance

NYSE AMT opened at $197.16 on Monday. American Tower Co. has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. 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 capitalization of $92.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Tower from $260.00 to $234.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Tower from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.08.

American Tower Company 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.