Independence Bank of Kentucky Cuts Stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT)

Independence Bank of Kentucky lowered its position in shares of American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,382 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in American Tower were worth $1,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMT. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Tower by 218.0% in the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 92.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMT has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of American Tower from $234.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of American Tower in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of American Tower in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.25.

American Tower Stock Performance

American Tower stock traded down $3.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $212.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,516,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,503,370. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $172.51 and a 12 month high of $243.56. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $215.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.51 billion, a PE ratio of 89.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. American Tower's payout ratio is 174.81%.

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.